Companies often come to us for a website refresh, but we identify that what they really need is a brand refresh. Branding includes messaging, visuals and strategy that work together to tell a cohesive story. Every typeface and color chosen, every logo and tagline, should tie into a larger narrative that evokes an emotional response and sets each company apart in a vast and crowded competitor landscape.
Companies do need to tread carefully when undergoing a shift in brand identity. Customers and audiences may instantly recognize established companies through their distinct branding (whether objectively ‘good’ or ‘bad’), and overhauling familiar visuals and messaging elements can be confusing and jarring. Emerging brands, on the other hand, must be deliberate to set themselves up for success and stand out as they prepare to launch.
A well-executed brand strategy can differentiate legacy brands from other industry leaders while leveling the playing field for younger companies. This is where brand strategy consulting comes in — a consultant can provide guidance and solutions based on their expertise and experience with new tools and technology.
A strong brand identity helps businesses create a lasting impression through visual cues that make it easier for customers to recognize and remember a brand. A signature color increases brand recognition by 80 percent, and the right color choice can better connect a brand’s messaging to audiences.
Customers who feel connected to a brand and its values are more likely to become repeat customers and brand advocates. This, in turn, prompts repeat business, increases customer lifetime value and reduces churn.
A clearly defined brand strategy gives employees a sense of purpose and direction, which helps employees better communicate the company’s value and key differentiators to leads and customers. This can improve strategies across the board, from marketing campaigns to sales calls and customer service interactions.
Creating a brand identity that resonates involves careful planning, ideation, strategy and execution. Kuno Creative has decades of brand strategy consulting experience, specializing in developing and executing brand identities and experiences that drive organizational performance.
Our team of experienced branding experts begins by conducting in-depth research and analysis to gain a thorough understanding of your business, your target audience, and your industry. This discovery process forms the foundation of our brand strategy, which is tailored to each organization’s specific needs and objectives.
We then work closely with you to develop a strategic framework, which will be the floor for all brand elements moving forward. This involves bringing in our comprehensive approach to digital marketing, which includes marketing, social media, SEO, website strategy and campaign development.
Your strategy, tied with a thoughtful approach to messaging and visuals, builds a unique and compelling brand identity that resonates with your audience and differentiates you from your competitors. Our team designs logos, taglines, brand guidelines and a messaging framework for a consistent voice and tone.
Finally, we continuously monitor and measure your brand performance to ensure that our strategies are delivering the desired results. We use a variety of metrics to track your progress, including website traffic, social media engagement, lead generation and sales. This data allows us to make adjustments to our strategies as needed to ensure that your brand is performing at its best.
Here are a few recent examples of branding work we completed for our clients.
RapidAI is a medical technology company with clinically rooted AI tools that help hospitals make faster decisions and improve patient outcomes. The company was founded under the name iSchemaView in 2012 then moved toward a rebranding with the name Rapid.ai. After completing clinical trials, Kuno recommended the company rebrand as RapidAI, but they still needed to find their niche in the industry and make RapidAI a recognizable name.
The company’s vast portfolio of services and innovative use of artificial intelligence (long before AI became a household term) meant they needed to establish brand messaging that would educate medical professionals on their innovative solutions while differentiating themselves from similar but less advanced companies on the market. Originally, RapidAI’s focus was on acute stroke detection, but as their offerings expanded to include aneurysm and pulmonary embolism, they needed cohesive branding that spoke to these distinct audiences.
Kuno Creative conducted thorough research and developed a compelling brand messaging framework that highlighted RapidAI's unique value proposition, emphasizing its commitment to delivering clinically rooted tools that save real lives. This was coupled with a cohesive brand identity toolkit with visual elements that reflected RapidAI's innovative and forward-thinking approach.
RapidAI’s website migrated to HubSpot, allowing for more integrations and data analysis for all facets of its branding strategy. Zoom became a regular part of everyday life for most people in and after 2020, so integrating Zoom to host their webinars was a small but significant piece of the company’s brand strategy.
Speaking of its website, RapidAI’s brand story is more clearly communicated, and its innovative approach to healthcare technology is reflected in new animations, color palettes, taglines and a more human approach to its online visuals. By weaving in an optimized SEO strategy, the brand climbed Google rankings to further establish itself as a leader in the industry.
RapidAI.com in 2020:
RapidAI.com in 2024:
Key Results:
An essential piece of branding success in the digital space is effective and intuitive user experience (UX). Big Bolt, a leading provider of industrial fasteners, partnered with Kuno Creative to modernize their logo and website, as well as branch out into new markets, with a refreshed brand strategy. Through buyer persona development, incorporating professional photography, designing a recognizable logo and writing a memorable tagline set the tone for further brand identity improvements.
Big Bolt sought to strike a balance between establishing themselves as leaders in their industry, as well as showcasing their products in a pleasing way with easy navigation and detailed descriptions. An updated website with a distinct color palette achieved these goals, but the next piece of the puzzle was building brand awareness and recognition that would lead people to discover their brand online.
Kuno Creative conducted thorough keyword research and competitor analysis to identify opportunities for Big Bolt to improve their search engine rankings. A new content strategy was developed, focusing on creating a blog that housed informative content that would appeal to Big Bolt's target audience—and significantly improve the brand’s SEO rankings. The rebranding efforts resulted in increased brand awareness, authority and recognition.
Additionally, Kuno Creative integrated Big Bolt’s sales CRM, ERP and CPO software with HubSpot to get more accurate attribution reports that would inform future campaigns, including a new initiative for customer re-engagement, targeting past customers that have not bought within six months. Key insights through innovative integrations will keep Big Bolt’s brand front and center with its target audience, ultimately leading to more sales.
GoBigBolt.com in 2021:
GoBigBolt.com in 2024:
Key Results:
Amerline, a leading manufacturer and supplier of circular connectors, partnered with Kuno to elevate its brand presence and drive business growth. To pivot its brand message and enter new sectors, Amerline needed to find a strategic partner that could deliver the right content along with functional design. Delivering key usability features for online visitors was essential to seamlessly guide them from discovery to action.
Kuno conducted market research to gain insights into Amerline's target audience and industry landscape. A comprehensive brand strategy was developed, focusing on three key pillars, each of which is a vital component of an effective brand strategy:
Amerline.com in 2020:
Amerline.com in 2024:
Key Results:
Maintenance Care, an award-winning computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) provider, partnered with Kuno to elevate its brand presence and drive business growth in an increasingly crowded and competitive market. The company found initial success primarily in the elder care industry, targeting senior living centers to help streamline their facilities' maintenance tasks to ensure their properties were safe and compliant for residents.
Maintenance Care’s parent organization, Gnxcor, was preparing to launch two sister platforms that would work in conjunction with their base CMMS: CareClean, a housekeeping scheduling system, and OneAccess, a visitor management and room booking service. With innovative features and upgrades developed at a rapid pace, the company needed to refine its brand messaging to deliver a solid value proposition to industries beyond residential and healthcare facilities.
With Kuno’s guidance, Maintenance Care unveiled a new visual identity, website redesign, robust digital marketing campaigns, detailed SEO updates and clear messaging that speaks to a range of new audiences in both Canada and the United States.
The brand’s new visual identity and messaging strategy included a refreshed logo, color scheme and website design. The website redesign created a more user-friendly experience and showcased Maintenance Care's services, benefits and expertise, while tying in its cleaning and visitor management software.
Through customer interviews, a push to drive online reviews and careful analysis of competitor messaging, Maintenance Care debuted a new tagline, advertisements and thought leadership campaigns that elevated the brand’s credibility and distinction in its industry. By emphasizing the software’s ease of use but innovative technology, Kuno Creative’s branding experts helped develop the “Simply Powerful Management Software” slogan to distill the company’s offerings into a powerful and cohesive statement.
MaintenanceCare.com in 2022:
MaintenanceCare.com in 2024:
Key Results:
At Kuno Creative, we understand that every business is unique, which is why we offer customized branding solutions tailored to your specific needs and goals. Our team of experienced branding experts is ready to work with you to create a brand that resonates with your target audience and drives results.
If you're ready to take your brand to the next level, schedule a consultation with Kuno Creative today. We'll work with you to assess your current branding efforts, identify areas for improvement, and develop a customized plan that will help you achieve your business objectives.
Discover how our strategic approach and expertise can elevate your brand and achieve your business objectives. Schedule a consultation with Kuno Creative and unlock the potential of your brand today.
