TO THE ROADMAP

AN INTRODUCTION

the Brand Universe

a note from claire

One thing I’ve realised from working with founders, small businesses and larger companies across the last decade, is that so often when someone comes to a designer or agency, they think they have a website problem, a marketing problem, or that they need a rebrand because clearly something isn't working. The enquiries they expected aren’t coming in, or the sales they were hoping for just aren’t happening.

I’ve been a website specialist for the past three years, and one pattern kept emerging from my projects: it was never just about making the website better. Sure, the better visuals, better user flow, better layouts helped.

But what was so often underneath it all was that my clients were coming to me with a brand they had no idea what to do with, and had almost definitely grown out of.

And even more so: they had no idea where to start with getting everything to catch up with where they are now.

I hit the same wall myself when I decided to pivot into Creative Direction (since that’s what my most impactful projects were, and more of those please!)

So what does one do when one is trying to figure something out? I went to my notepad and wrote “What makes a cohesive, impactful brand” at the top.

Then mapped out everything that I would need to do in order to create this shiny fresh new ‘rebrand’, and it painted a frankly overwhelming picture.

No wonder it feels like a hot mess when founders are trying to figure this out along with everything else they’re now expected to be an expert in!

↑ cue the sudden need of a full block of chocolate for emotional support ↑

Now, how do we make this hot mess into something we can actually work our way through? Because it’s not just you, I also needed to work my own way through my own brand evolution and the overwhelm was real (and this is literally my job).

Enter: Brand Universe.

(Well… after 3 months of it circling the edge of my brain and not forming properly until after I went overseas on holiday and had a break. I always find the reminder that space - both mental and physical - is necessary for clarity and creativity hilariously frustrating.)

WHAT IS THE BRAND UNIVERSE?

It’s both a point of view and a way of looking at your brand that looks at the bigger picture of how it’s expressed.

It consists of 5 things I call Focus Areas and together, they create what we in the industry like to call “your brand world”. (I use the term “universe” because it matches my own brand “astre” - which means “bright, guiding star” - and I love the space theme in case you hadn’t guessed.)

Your ‘brand’ isn’t five separate things, it’s all five connected.

Together, they form the expression of your business, and are often the first thing people encounter (before they even experience your service or touch your product), so it has a LOT of weight to carry.

story

✦ BRAND FOUNDATIONS

What you say you do, who it's for, and how you describe your offers.

THINK:

✦ Audience
✦ Offers
✦ Tone of Voice
✦ Positioning & Messaging

visuals

✦ BRAND FOUNDATIONS

How it looks, feels and represents your brand across every single touchpoint.

THINK:

✦ Logo Suite
✦ Typography
✦ Graphics & Style
✦ Photography Direction

website

✦ CORNERSTONE

How people understand what you do, navigate to what they need and take the next step.

THINK:

✦ Core Pages
✦ Sales/Product Pages
✦ Landing Pages
✦ SEO & Discoverability

red carpet

✦ CLIENT EXPERIENCE

How they initially find and are introduced to your business and what you do.

THINK:

✦ Opt Ins (Freebies)
✦ Social Media
✦ Emails (Newsletters, Flows)
✦ Marketing Assets

experience

✦ CLIENT EXPERIENCE

What it actually feels like to work with you (or the moment someone receives the product).

THINK:

✦ Onboarding Processes
✦ Welcome Pack & Workbooks
✦ Packaging
✦ Offboarding & Referrals

So why does these 5 Focus Areas matter to a business?

You didn’t start your business to become a branding expert, so let me make it real for you.

When your branding isn’t working for you, it feels like friction.

You feel scattered because you’re trying to do all the things just to get people through the doors
“Update your website” sits on your to-do list for weeks… months… (years?)
When you do get an enquiry, it’s ‘not quite right’ or for something you used to do but you’ve changed since then and want to focus on something else (but hey, at least it’s an enquiry… right…?)
You tinker away at things, buy another template, do another ‘viral hooks’ course and then get frustrated when it all looks like a patchwork and nothing has realistically changed
You find yourself explaining everything. Over and over again. You have to be in the room for people to “get it”

Anyway, the list goes on.

So you’re feeling one (or all) of the above thinking… now what the f— do I do?

START HERE

This is why I’m so passionate about the Brand Universe because it gives you a way to see what’s actually going on, what needs attention, and where to start.

We can do it now, together.

First step? Take a look.

Look at your Brand Story

What are you offering, saying and known for? Has the business changed since this was defined?

Look at your Brand Visuals

Does it look and feel like the business you've become?

Look at your Website

Is it helping people understand what you do, find what they need and take the next step?

Look at your Red Carpet

What happens between “I'm interested” and “I'm ready”? Are you rolling out the red carpet?

Look at the Experience

Does the reality of working with you (or receiving your product) match the promise?

You might find your offers aren’t speaking to your audience right. You might find your logo and colours are a bit outdated. You might find your website is in desperate need of catching up. You might find your Instagram doesn’t match your website at all. You might find that the silence immediately after someone enquires is why people ghost you (never thought of it that way, hm?)

And you don't necessarily need to change all five. That's kind of the point.

The beautiful thing about this is you can leave whatever things are actually fine the f— alone.

You like your branding, but your website needs a refresh? Leave the branding alone, update your website.

You really like your offers, but your content isn’t explaining them well? Leave the offers alone, update your socials.

And yes, you’re going to get a big to-do list from this. BUT you can at least see the bigger picture now and see what needs prioritising (and more importantly, what doesn’t). That’s the first step to clarity and lasting change and it’s what I use with every single one of my projects.

WANT TO SEE THIS IN ACTION?

I'm turning this into a workshop, so if you’re interested in learning more about how to use the Brand Universe step by step with your own brand, this one’s for you. You can join the waitlist here.

Or need another pair of eyes?

That's where the Gap Map comes in. It’s a good look at your branding and how it’s supporting your business, find where the gaps are and what the roadmap forward should be.

More often than not, you don't need to fix everything. Read that again.

There’s realistically no need to burn it all down and start again (as tempting as that is some days).

Sometimes, one thing is the problem. Sometimes, a few things have drifted apart. And sometimes, the business has simply grown into something the brand around it hasn't caught up with yet.