Beer, Pizza & Branding

We had a blast on December 10 at Champion Brewing alongside Hunter- the owner and head brewer at Champion and Chris, the owner of Blue Ridge Pizza, enjoying some awesome beer and pizza and discussing why it was so important to launch their small businesses (neither are small any longer!) with strong branding [Thank you to The Central VA AMA for putting this on!]. When coming into a marketplace with existing breweries and food trucks, how do you make yourself stand out? With a HOT brand of course. Visual recognition runs right alongside word of mouth, especially when someone mentions a place to you and it clicks- oh yeah, I’ve seen that place!

A strong brand starts with a great logo. This will go on EVERYTHING – think about it – not only your website, but all merch, business cards and other business communications, marketing materials, ads, your social media profiles (all 20 of them 😉 and so many other places… then, you build up from there, creating awesome supporting materials that back up your logo- like your website, social media and more traditional marketing outlets as well (yep, we can help you with all of those things as well!)

Next comes PERSONALITY… who is your brand and how do you want people to perceive it? First, think about who you want to have as a client, and then figure out what would appeal to them. Marry that to who you want the business to be – and there is your target personality! This can be your tone on social media to the way you look.

And finally, consistency. Keep your look/feel/tone consistent across all media, as you never know where a client will find you first. From advertising to online and back to signage… Remember, even if you become bored with your brand over time, it’s not often that the consumer will come in touch with it, so while you might be sick of it, you need to keep it consistent for your customer – so that they can remember that visual – repetition is key.

We had a blast talking with everyone, and look forward to talking with you- yep, you, who we thank for taking the moment to read this banter.