One of the topics I see being discussed a lot by our Students in Academy Live (our private Facebook group for students and graduates) is branding. This is great because anyone considering launching a wedding business, or any business for that matter, must consider branding. This has never been truer than today when your potential clients are looking closely at you across many platforms; from your website to social media. If your brand is not a true reflection of who you are and what you represent, you could end up attracting the wrong types of clients, or worse still not attracting any at all.
Everything you do must be cohesive and the story you create through your brand must flow through everything you do. A uniformed approach is essential otherwise it sends mixed messages to your potential clients. As part of the re-branding process we went through several years ago, we spent time with the wonderful team at Flourish Studios, a creative brand and visual communications company. They spent time talking to me about the Academy brand, what I wanted it to project, how I wanted it to make people feel, and ultimately how we wanted to be seen. This was an interesting process as it really made me think about what I wanted the company to known for.
After this initial meeting I went away and really gave myself some time to think about what makes the Academy unique, what I believe our students valued about what we offer and what we are best at. In the end I wanted to narrow it down to five words that really described those things and were going to my five power words throughout this re-brand process. What I came up with was: Innovative, Modern, Industry Leader, Reputation and Confidence.
Next I thought about how I was going to bring those five words to life and that was when I turned to my mind map. As you can see in the example above the mind map (based on our UK Campus) really helped me to hone in on each of my five words to draw out what they meant and how I was going to achieve each one within the story of my brand.
I really think this was a worthwhile process as it made me stop, take stock and reevaluate the company and where it is going and that has to be a good thing. In a world where everything moves at a hundred miles an hour it is great to take some time out for reflection. The work we put in on our re-brand has given us such a clear path for moving forward. If you are thinking of launching a wedding business, or are ready to re-evaluate your existing brand, you may find going through an exercise like the one I describe above, is valuable for you too. To find out more about how the Academy can help you click on the campus closest to you and contact us.