In this episode Shireen discusses why branding has to become interdisciplinary for the good of the organisations rebranding. 

• How legal and creative teams working together gives a better outcome
• The current situation for most organisations is the silo approach
• Why organisations need to identify their purpose, what change they want to make in the world.
• Brand Tuned has been launched to change the existing conversation around branding and allow founders to get a holistic approach to branding and IP.
• The BrandTuned podcast is to showcase the journeys people have had with their brand.
• Our purpose is to bring professional guidance and inspiration to every brand in the world so they can build on strong foundations and succeed in their aims and ventures.

 Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.

Brand Tuned's Newsletter

Shireen: Hello, and welcome to Brand Tuned, successful brands successful business, the show for entrepreneurs and brand creators, where we discussed personal and business brand to give you ideas and inspiration for your own brand. I'm Shireen Smith, lawyer, entrepreneur, author, and advocate for developing purpose-based brands to change. 

As a user of branding services, I found it confusing when I first set up my business to understand the role that marketers and designers play in branding. The people talking about branding in networking groups I attended were invariably designers speaking about brands in terms of their visual side. So, when I bought my first branding service, what I essentially got from the exercise was a new logo, visual identity and website, rather than marketing assistance. So when a graphic designer was going to refresh my brand, a few years ago, I decided to first work with a marketer before involving the designer. In hindsight, the setup didn't work so well, because I didn't know what to ask the marketer to do for me. And then when the designer got involved, she touched on a number of subjects that are not known to address with the marketer. So clearly, a joined up approach is needed if you're going to involve two separate individuals in your branding. I didn't know how the two disciplines needed to get involved in branding, because I hadn't yet developed a deep understanding of what branding entails. So, I didn't know which professional was more important when you're creating a brand. The fact is, the whole concept of brand is confused and confusing. Personally, even after going through two branding exercises, I didn't really understand what you were supposed to do to create and build an effective brand. 

Having experienced a few branding exercises, I realized that the best option for new businesses would be to work with a graphic designer, trained in marketing. It's taken me a while to, you know really get to grips with branding. I've read a lot attended courses, to learn what I now know about brands and branding. To properly create a brand, you need a solid grasp of three disciplines, that is of marketing, design, and intellectual property. That's because in the 21st century, it's imperative to take IP on board, given that the digital world we live in, is governed by IP laws. Although a brand is intellectual property, the worlds of lawyers who protect and defend brands, and designers and marketers who create them are entirely separate. It only dawned on me relatively recently, that the reason marketers and designers don't always seem to appreciate the legal side of branding and naming is that they're not trained in intellectual property. They have to pick up the subject as they go through trial and error. In view of this, while household name organizations like the Googles of this world do approach brand creation in an interdisciplinary way. The vast majority of organizations and agencies do not take account of IP, when they're creating a brand. They separate brand creation from brand protection, and that can lead to many problems. 

Some companies would like to have an interdisciplinary approach, but can't break down the silos within their business to create more effective ways to develop strong adds, most of them are likely to involve marketers in the branding process. So in practice, it's IP that is missed out. brands they create may not be fit for the fast paced competitive environment of the 21st century. If creatives develop brands, without involving lawyers, it could be detrimental to the organization or client whose brand is being developed. To avoid the 20th century silo approach to branding means getting people in different departments to coordinate and come together. When creating new brands. The culture of the organization needs to encourage and reward communication and collaboration on projects. So, the people from different disciplines contribute to the branding process. That's how you get the best outcome and value. Many organizations don't have such a culture, people often fail to involve others who have significant contributions to make to the branding process, with the result that it's only two possible that a brand is created, that the legal team has not been asked for input on. So, a weak name and brand may be the result. An example of a weak name is Clubcard which Tesco have tried in vain to register as a word mark. Sometimes it's only when people come to protect the brand name, that shortcomings are found with it. And by then it's often too late to make a change. For Tesco. That meant using a name that every other company was also able to use to introduce loyalty card schemes, they could have enjoyed a competitive advantage if they had chosen a distinctive name that uniquely belonged to them. The best way for organizations to create brands is to combine the various disciplinary skills into the creative process. So, the brand creation and brand protection are considered together, the four choices of name and other identifiers have finalized. The problem for most businesses is that they don't have a budget to involve three different experts in their branding process. So, in practice, the person who is supporting a business to create their brand needs a solid understanding of all three disciplines of design, marketing, and intellectual property to create an effective brand. That's what Brand Tuned is aiming to bring about. So, founders can benefit from a holistic approach to their branding. IP needs to be considered at the very start of branding projects, rather than being left to the end. That's because IP is all about how you design a business. If you want a business to scale and grow, you need to structure the brand in the right way to manage the competitive environment. It's about ensuring the true value of your ideas and innovations is preserved when you first designed the brand. 

Understanding what branding means and involves is vital, which is why I'm creating this podcast. I'll be interviewing designers, marketers, and the occasional intellectual property experts. So listeners can get insights into how to build brands, in essence, to work out your brand and get the best value out of any branding exercise involves understanding what branding entails. My purpose is to foster greater business success by helping you to build a brand on strong foundations. Thank you for listening to this episode of Brand Tuned, where we aim to answer the question. What does it take to create a successful business and brand? I'd love it if you would take a moment to give me a review. If you Have any questions send me a message, you can find me on LinkedIn or most other social media platforms or on my personal website shireensmith.com.