Glen Lane
Buckle up … you’re about to embark on a fantastic rebranding journey with KickCharge Creative!
As you eagerly await the creation of your new logo, you may be feeling just a little bit anxious— which is completely normal for such a big change. But rest assured, we’ve helped thousands of business owners just like you unlock new levels of success by crafting an incredible new identity designed to surpass business goals and disrupt markets.
Jesse LuBera is one of our talented illustrators who gives small businesses a jolt of KickCharge energy. He’s been at the helm of many logo projects, which is why we asked him for some insight into what our clients can expect during the logo process, from the kickoff call to the final rendering. Here’s what Jesse and the rest of our illustrators want you to know before beginning your logo project:
Reading this blog is a great way to start! But to ensure your logo kickoff meeting is smooth and productive, here are a few things to do before your call:
⚡️ Know your company name. We can’t brand a nameless company! You have a few options: keep your existing company name, come up with your own, or hire our team of writers to help you craft something unique that will support an incredible new brand and an overall theme.
Keep in mind, though, that our naming and logo processes do not happen concurrently. The name of your company must be finalized before we can begin your logo. This is because your company name is the cornerstone on which your identity is built. The name is what drives the visual, which is why it needs to be finalized before the logo phase.
⚡️ Know what your company offers. Many of our clients choose to rebrand during a time of growth. That’s a great decision—but the more you know about your future, the better.
If you plan on adding service lines within a year or two, you may want to include them in your clarifiers to prepare the brand for those additions. This isn’t necessary if you aren’t completely sure which services you’ll be adding, but it may help you avoid the additional costs to update your logo or wraps in the coming years.
⚡️ Carefully fill out your creative brief (or revisit your answers if you’ve already done so). This document will be integral to understanding your current brand today and where you hope to take it tomorrow.
Please be thorough with your responses. Answer the questions honestly and carefully. There is no such thing as too much information. Be sure to include your favorite brands from our portfolio, as we will reference your choices several times throughout your project. If you’ve already submitted the brief, please revisit your answers and ensure that your original responses still hold true. There have been several instances when we’ve met with clients, asked them to explain why they chose certain brands from our portfolio and were told “I don’t know why,” or “I wouldn’t have chosen those brands from the portfolio today.” Answers like these won’t help us meet your vision. It’s important to keep in mind that being the experts in home service branding does not make us mind readers. It is so important for your goals, visions and preferences to be reflected in the creative brief. This helps ensure that by the time we’re presenting the concepts to you, we’ve hit the nail on the head for what you were envisioning.
Building a successful brand is a collaborative effort. Yes, you hired us to do this job for you—but because this is a highly personal project, we need your input to make it to the finish line. This means we want to hear your ideas, your favorite colors, your company values … anything and everything that will help bring your new brand to life. Even knowing what you DON’T like and why is incredibly helpful.
Your logo kickoff call will be a full, detailed conversation. Some of our questions will pertain to the responses in your creative brief. Others will focus on why certain brands from our portfolio resonated with you. Answering as truthfully as possible is crucial for our team; if you don’t, then you may end up with concepts that don’t align with your goals.
We’ll also get a feel for your preferences and what will or won’t work. If you renamed with us, we’ll discuss some of the ideas for your name that your copywriter pitched to you. If you’re coming to us with your own name, we’ll talk about your visions for bringing it to life. If we feel any of your ideas won’t be successful or effective, we’ll be sure to let you know. This can lead to some pushback, which is why it’s important to also …
Collaboration is a beautiful thing, and your input is vital to the entire branding process. But that doesn’t mean we’ll create something out of nothing. If we feel like an idea isn’t working, even if it’s one you really like or want to see come to life, we’ll be brutally honest with you. We will only build a brand that we know will be effective.
You’ve hired us to do a job that we’ve excelled in for nearly 30 years. We know what works in home service branding and what doesn’t, which is why we ask that you trust our process and our expertise. In all of our years of business, we’ve never had a client rebrand with us and say they regretted doing so.
“When our clients embrace change and put full faith in our team, we’ll create a brand that will meet their high expectations and disrupt their markets in the best way possible,” Jesse explained.
“I think that Over the Moon is a GREAT example of how trusting our process can pay off,” he continued. “After we renamed their company, they entered their logo kickoff with one design mandate: no cows. They felt that the concept would be too silly to be effective. We listened and proceeded to create several cow-less concepts, but couldn’t ignore how perfectly the idea of a cow mascot would pair with a name like theirs. So, we decided to sketch one up anyway and present it, despite their reservations. The rest is history!”
Today, Over the Moon’s cow-focused brand is leading the herd in Wisconsin and frequently appears in new clients’ creative briefs as a favorite from our portfolio. Yes, we want you to fall in love with your new look and give you something your team will be proud to display each and every day. But what’s even more important is that your customers fall in love with your brand. Once that first impression is made, you can’t get it back—so let’s make sure it’s a positive one.
Immediately following the kickoff call, your illustrator will begin sketching concepts and ideas that the call may have sparked. They’ll also loop in the other illustrators on our team, meaning you have the benefit of multiple illustration mavens working on your brand.
Over a three-week period, they’ll think, sketch, research and repeat the process again and again to develop the final concepts. Sometimes, a great new idea comes to light just days before the scheduled presentation. If this is the case, we may reach out and ask if you are open to pushing the concept call back a day or two so our illustrators can double down and bring this exciting new idea to fruition.
“The creative process is fluid, and we want to be sure we’re presenting our very best work. It’s what our clients deserve, and what we’re most proud of,” says Jesse.
Keep in mind that you won’t see any concepts during your logo kickoff call. Your logo concept call will take place about three weeks after the date of your kickoff call—and it will be an exciting day indeed! Weeks of brainstorming, sketching and preparing will culminate in a big reveal of several concepts. It will be up to you to choose just one that will represent your new brand.
When we present these concepts, you’ll notice they may look just a little rough around the edges. This isn’t an error or the result of a rushed job. This is a crucial step in finalizing your brand. We’ll send you the downloadable presentation after the call has ended so you can take some time to absorb the concepts. You’ll also have the opportunity to request revisions on the presented concepts in order to reach your final decision. Once you’ve chosen a logo, we’ll spend even MORE time making tweaks, playing with color palettes and more. When you’re happy with the final design, your logo enters the “rendering” phase where it will get that final push and level of polish it needs to meet the level of quality seen in our portfolio.
And now, here is the most important thing to know about your logo project. Do not expect to see “the one” during your concept call. Many clients need to take a few days or even weeks to sit with their concepts before making a decision. Some feel hesitant to choose any of their presented concepts. This is such a common reaction that we have another entire blog dedicated to it. Please take a few minutes to read it and learn why struggling with something that’s different is actually a good thing.
Like we said, it’s normal to feel anxious about your rebrand. But you should feel excited, too! You’re embarking on a special journey that will change the trajectory of your business for years to come—and we’re honored that you chose us to lead the way. All of these business owners were in the same boat as you, and they now have incredible stories to tell. Some had a tough time accepting change … but they didn’t have a tough time watching their numbers go up once they got on board.
We hope that this insight into our logo process helps paint a clearer picture of what to expect. We don’t have a crystal ball to show you what your new brand will look like just yet (if we did, we’d be using it every single day). But what we CAN tell you is that there’s a lot of positive change coming your way. When the new brand goes to work and you start to see the impact it has on your employees’ lives and your own, we promise your only regret will be not rebranding sooner!
Have more questions? Contact us online or call us at 908.835.9000. We’re always happy to chat!
