A social enterprise start-up was looking to name, design and establish a brand for its online offering. Conceptualised as an international online business platform that allows individuals, businesses and organisations to participate in a virtual marketplace, the brand name had a number of criteria to hit, including the fact that it had to be memorable in any language, easy to pronounce and “said what it did”.
It had a number of stakeholders, ranging from organisations, public entities, local community leaders and individuals, while the customer base was universal. The business was following a three pronged strategy, to educate and be a font for knowledge share, to facilitate trade and to act as a platform for communication, with directories of profiles and products/services.
We worked with the founder and her team to identify the proposition and its key elements. We analysed the market, looked at similar websites and understood the competition as well as the various user groups. We then took the proposition to market, conducting various focus groups, online survey and in-depth research with several stakeholders over a period of six weeks. Our goal was to look at key elements that would be integral to the brand identity and potential brand names.
The research and studies were analysed and the findings developed into the brand identity. We put forward recommendations for the elements such as use of imagery and colour, font and tone of language. In our work, we had also researched potential names. We presented the outcome of the preferred names and those suggested by the user groups in particular. And finally, as part of the brand DNA, we also developed the brand’s positioning, mission statement and key messages.
Our Success: Our recommendations for the brand identity and naming were accepted and incorporated in the brand logo.