Elmwood is an independently owned brand design consultancy with six studios across the world. They work with large international brands and start ups to define and share the brand story. Their teams from Elmwood’s Leeds and London studios joined us to share their ethos and working methodology. Here are five things I learned:

  • Every brand must begin with a core purpose. The clearer the purpose of the organisation, the better the consumer experience will be. Elmwood work with their clients to develop a brand blueprint to succinctly outline the core conflicts, personality, audience, need and goals of their brand.
  • The challenge with redefining or shaping an existing brand comes with removing the clutter and returning to the core purpose. Conversely, beginning afresh with a start up company allows more design freedom and clarity.
  • We are living in a world where experiences are becoming more important than possessions and brands have to keep up.  A brand experience is the combined impact of all interactions, from advertising to purchasing to customer service. 
  • Consumers now have the power to co-curate the overall brand image with organisations. Brands like Airbnb, Trip Advisor and Ebay offer platforms to enable consumers to share their experiences.
  • Memorable brands have iconic visual assets. A successful logo or image can create a hardwired connection to the brand’s purpose for the consumer. Visual branding is especially important when working internationally with different languages and cultures.