Build a brand people gather in and around.
Why food and beverage, urban development, restaurants and gathering spaces, consumer packaged goods, and community engagement centered companies need full branding strategies (and 10 ways that strategy shows up in your audience’s lives).
Hey, can we have a quick heart-to-heart about your brand? (Especially if you’re a CEO or Creative Director up in here).
We need to have a talk about what it really takes to get next level growth in an industry like yours. Hint; it’s not gaining visibility by pumping out eleventy billion social posts a day. We’re talking about what it takes to stand out and win hearts, become the clear choice from your competition, build loyalty and longevity, and become a go-to product or space perfect to gather in and around. We need to have this conversation, because there are so many good companies out there who have incredible offerings, yet consumers aren’t choosing them because of a poor (or nonexistent) brand strategy. We hate to see it. But we know why it’s happening - gathering-centric products and spaces have to approach branding with connection at its core.
Think about it this way - people are getting together. They’re making plans, meeting-up, building connection, and choosing to celebrate all of it. For your audience, gathering isn’t just another thing they have to do, it’s something they look forward to. Being with their people is a sacred time, it’s when they come alive. Your product, event, or space could be at the center of their most important moments. These moments are all about connection. If people don’t feel a connection to your brand, your brand won’t be invited.
Here’s the thing, you can’t approach the process of branding like every other inanimate object on the market. You aren’t some utilitarian product on a shelf just waiting to remove a stain or polish a dashboard. Your offering exists to inspire people to feel something, and share something. The visuals, messaging, packaging, positioning, and story must be strategically designed to evoke emotion, to make that connection. If you want to conjure excitement, joy, ambiance, coziness, relaxation, sexiness, or any other intangible, the branding has to conjure it for you. What you have to offer should and can be the perfect addition to their next gathering. People shouldn’t have to miss out just because your branding didn’t do your offer justice.
And of course, who wouldn’t want to be a brand their customers rally around…?! The one they consider to be THE event venue, THE popular vodka, THE premier development or architecture firm, THE best of the best in your market. You’re game to try anything, so maybe you’ve thought about pumping up your reach with more Facebook ads, more campaigns, more of everything. But here’s the deal – you won’t find the solution rubber-necking your competitor or doubling down on your efforts – it’s all locked up in your branding (and how it’s impacting literally every aspect of your business).
So that’s why we are asking you to take a good, long look at your brand strategy. It’s holding the key to the success you’re after- but it doesn’t happen by accident. You’ll need an expert partner who can make sure you don’t miss the mark.
You’re in luck.
At Purveyor, we build brands that are perfect to gather in and around. We’re here to help you create a comprehensive brand strategy to inspire emotion, create connection, and put you smackdab at the center of that gathering. You already know branding is about more than a pretty logo – but until that strategic brand message trickles down internally and becomes a part of every decision at your company, you’ll continue leaving dollars on the table, and you'll be spinning your wheels watching the other lane.We can help you meaningfully and memorably engage your community with sound strategy, vibrant visuals, and messaging that matters.
So what does a comprehensive brand strategy actually look like? Here are just 10 ways effective branding makes hospitality, food, beverage, and event spaces perfect for gathering in and around.
Emotion
Velcro only has to market themselves to say sticky. Soap only has to communicate sudsy. Cool, but you gotta do more. Your brand has to actually move people, inspire them to feel something. The visuals, messaging, packaging, and positioning must be strategically designed to make that personal connection. If you want to conjure excitement, joy, ambiance, coziness, relaxation, sexiness, or any other intangible, a strategic brand is the way in.
Identity
Imagine yourself standing in front of a mirror and flatly stating, “This is my identity.” Um, no, obviously you’re all the things. Behind that reflection is your history, choices, failures, successes, convictions, character, hopes and so much more. Brands who have a cool logo and little else are essentially chopping their identity off at the knees. They’re reporting themselves as one-dimensional and shallow. Brands that prioritize connection with their target audience flesh out their identity, weaving its depth into every single shred of marketing effort.
Differentiation
Everyone wants a piece of the pie, but in order to get yours, you’re going to have to differentiate yourself. You gotta capitalize on what makes you better, then package that feature in an unexpected and refreshing way. If you can create some curiosity, you can spark interest. If you get their interest, you can become memorable. Then your sticker gets added to her Stanley, your ball cap becomes the one he wears to disc golf. Heck, maybe she even rattles off her love of your product in an #unsponsored IG story. We’ll help you package, position, and promote yourself to become the neon yellow in a sea of black.
Consistency
It’s true in parenting, and it’s true here – inconsistency will leave you holding the bag, but consistency builds trust, loyalty and longevity. When someone sees you showing up in multiple touch-points with a consistent message, you are understood by a captive audience. Being understood means you become top of mind, which ultimately earns you their respect and ears. Yes, you need a brand strategy first and foremost, but it’s how you then consistently practice it that creates traction.
Targeting
You know about segmentation and tailoring your efforts to reach the right crowd, but there are additional factors you may be overlooking… things like the timing of your campaign, the platform you’re using, and what your prospect may be going through when they encounter your brand. You can’t control the headspace they’re in when you cross paths – so you have to be precise, strategic, and consistent to win.
Pricing
Yeah, we’re going there. Talking about pricing can feel uncomfortable, but it’s a necessary part of comprehensive branding. A strong brand identity and value proposition can help justify a higher price. Plus, it’s one way branding can be directly tied to increasing revenue, not just a thing you do that might make more people want to buy.
Emotion
Brand strategy should be clear, but have room to flex and breathe. A good one makes anticipating changes in your industry part of the equation, because you can adapt your messaging and offerings without losing the core of the brand. Plus, a healthy amount of flexibility means you can stay ahead of the competition and continue to grow without mucking up the message.
Expansion
When it comes to imagining future products, offerings, events, subscriptions or memberships you could offer, the sky is no longer the limit, poor branding is. A strong brand strategy gives you scaffolding to expand without creating weak spots in the business that could crack under the pressure of growth.
Customer Experience
Reviews are everything and perception is reality. Even if you’ve taken great pains to create beautiful visuals and curate the way your customer interacts with you, there are myriad ways a disgruntled person could project their own crappy experience onto your brand. Expert branding partners know how to give you some control over these uncontrollables. We can anticipate possible vulnerabilities and front load you for greater success (and less risk).
Messaging
The story you tell and how you tell it directly shapes what your audience tells themselves about you. Your messaging has to resonate with your customers’ values, clearly communicate your personality, and 100% match their lived experience of you. When it all hits right, you get brand loyalty. But you can’t afford any missteps. They’ll get sniffed out immediately and end up costing you.
Team Training
We’re way past the misconception that branding is all digital visuals, colors, and fonts. It’s the human connection someone makes to your product, and dare we say, the biggest factor in determining what they do next. Imagine spending loads of cash to research, develop, and roll out some flashy new branding – but Sales doesn’t really get what you’re doing. Record scratch. Your whole team has to be trained about what it means to represent your brand, or they won’t. Strategy that fails to get everyone on the same page is actually just poor communication.
Okay, that was eleven, but who’s counting? We’re willing to throw in a freebie if it’ll help you begin to think of branding as the only thing coming between you and your audience. It’s the space you share, the relationship you cultivate, and the feelings that emerge. Food, beverage, venues, and events can influence true connection and fill the space - and what it takes is comprehensive brand strategy.
Before you go, we want to leave you with this question: Is your brand worthy of the water bottle? Are you doing enough to be a water bottle brand?
Let us explain: we’re nothing if not a society that believes in staying hydrated, right? We don’t go anywhere without a water bottle. In fact, a big majority of your audience is walking around right now with a big ‘ole hydro jug plastered with stickers of their favorite brands all over it. Let’s imagine for a moment a gal - we’ll call her Penny - she carries her water bottle, and all the brands stuck to it, wherever she goes. Some of the brands she uses every day, some remind her of a fun time she had, and some represent something she may never be able to own but the aspiration of what that brand stands for brings her joy anyway. She is a living, breathing, (drinking) advocate for those brands. Why does she do it? It’s not because she’s materialistic or showy. She does it because seeing them everyday makes her happy. She believes in their missions. She stands by their quality. She trusts their authority. She loves the way they look and feel. She loves the way they make her feel. They are a representation of what she cares about, how she spends her time, her money, and what she puts into her body. Good branding feels like something that tags along with people even if they aren’t directly using the product at that exact moment. Are you ready to reconsider your brand in light of that deeper level connection? It’s time to become who you really are. Fill out the form to reach out to Purveyor so we can build a brand perfect for your audience to gather in and around.