Brand starter kit for GarageConversionGuru

Barry, Alex and Tim teamed up to combine their skills and offer turn-key solutions to homeowners to increase their living space. The trio formed GarageConversionGuru because they see a demand—especially in the North—to convert garages into prime spaces. To start the business quickly, they need only the essentials for branding their venture.

The brand starter kit includes three parts. First, a Brand Sprint to clarify the fundamentals:

· What does GarageConversionGuru stand for or want to be known for. · Who needs to know. · How do they find out. · Why should they care.

The gained clarity aligns the partners and sets the foundation for the brand identity design (logo, colours and typeface), which is the second part.

In the last part, the brand identity comes to life when applied to the essential items such as vehicle livery, workwear and initial online presence.

With the brand starter kit complete, GarageConversionGuru will have a solid foundation to grow the business and allow future expansion.

Task: (1) Develop the core brand identity, (2) key applications and (3) an initial landing page.

Requirements: To tackle the project within 4-6 weeks, we will replace presentations with conversations. So, close collaboration and short exchanges rather than one or two presentations with ‘big’ reveals.

Proposal: Typically, the minimum estimated investment for a project like this would be around the £6000 mark for a start-up. My estimated price for a brand identity is £2500 and £1000 for an initial landing page. All prices exclude VAT.

For

Barry Roberts, Alex Ingham and Tim Ingham

GarageConversionGuru

Bridgefield Drive Bury, BL9 7PE

For questions please contact Stephan Hammes on 079 6619 5576 or mail@stephanhammes.com

The brand development process has five steps: conducting research → clarifying strategy → designing identity → creating touchpoints → managing assets. These steps are grouped into three phases: discover + define, design + develop, and deploy + drive.

The first two form the brand starter kit. The last phase usually includes the marketing plan for the brand activation that builds awareness and generates leads which is not part of the brand starter kit. However, an online presence is a must and to get things going, a simple landing page can be effective in engaging with prospects.

01 discover + define

Value proposition, basic brand strategy and messaging

1. Hold a Brand Sprint, an in-person workshop to determine the business goal, the vision, values and purpose, as well as the customer journey and competition.
2. Define the value proposition based on the customer segmentation, their pain points and desired gains
3. Devise the brand platform (identity & positioning) based on differentiation and value proposition

The Brand Sprint is ideally held with three but not more than four key people, including the decision-maker and a person with direct client contact.

Before the Brand Sprint, you will receive an introduction with a set of questions to prepare, which will make the sprint more effective.

In a sprint, once a segment’s time is over, we move on to the next one, and anything unresolved will be picked up in remote follow-up calls.

In ‘next steps’, we agree on the exact deliverables and a clear briefing for the second part.

02 design + develop

Key brand assets and main touchpoints

1. Propose two design concepts based on the outcome of the Brand Sprint
2. Develop the core brand elements of the selected route: symbol/mark, logotype, colour scheme, typography, and imagery
3. Tweak and finalise the core brand elements for sign-off
4. Create a brand palette to ensure consistent future use (see example below)
5. Apply the signed-off brand elements to business cards, vehicle livery, workwear and initial online presence, such as profile elements for social media

03 deploy + drive

Initial web presence

1. Design a one-page website with basic functionality, e.g. collecting email addresses from prospects

Alternatively, the landing page can be built using a leading specialised provider allowing, for instance, A/B testing to refine messaging, offers or online advertising and integration with a CRM system.

Brand activation plan (not included in the Starter Kit and to be discussed after brand identity is done)

1. Write a communication plan to create brand awareness and drive lead generation using a lean marketing approach (see the end of the proposal).
2. Devise content platform and calendar for all relevant channels and set up analytics to provide monthly stats
3. Conduct audience research and build trials for multiple audiences based on user behaviour and trends
4. Plan and manage online advertising on relevant online platforms
5. Monitor social management and ads to ensure they are gaining traction
6. Create monthly reporting and insights

Concept, design and production budgets for the brand starter kit

The estimated prices for each phase include all research, strategic and creative work, and project management. Third-party costs such as copywriting, illustration, image licences, photography or printing, and travel outside London are extra and agreed upon beforehand. Full terms and conditions

Preliminary Timing

Successful Collaboration

For the successful execution of the brand stater kit for GarageConversionGuru, open and trusting cooperation is crucial and required. That also means that all shared information and developed results are treated confidentially. Due to our close and regular collaboration, it is only necessary to document the essentials and not create any further reporting. Any postponements or additional work will only take place after consultation.

“Stephan Hammes is all about clarity. To that, he adds a superb depth of perception. The two years we’ve worked together have been both a pleasure and an education. His thoughtful deconstruction of our ideas led us to an atomistic understanding of our offer, from which he built our brand. Through that, he shaped the company, represented by the striking and beautiful design he is known for. Always calm, always on the money, always on the company’s side by thinking on the customer’s side. You may think you know your company now, but the design confidence and message precision you’ll get from Stephan’s work is of a significantly higher order.” — Bill Brannigan, Entrepreneur

Next Steps

1. Stephan presents the proposal to ensure all is clear.

2. With the scope and timing determined, you get a formal estimate.

3. Agree on a date for the Brand Sprint, either in Manchester or as Zoom sessions

If you have questions, please get in touch with me.

Warm regards Stephan Hammes

Stephan learnt his craft working primarily for the automotive sector (Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Toyota and SEAT ) and F1 (RedBull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso and VodafoneMcLaren). So, he is used to a rigorous design process, attention to detail and delivering high quality. As creative director and designer holding an MBA from Imperial College, he handles projects independently and collaboratively from conception to execution for big brands and SMEs. Currently, he is also consulting start-ups on business models and branding. Experience on LinkedIn

Brand development overview

Lean marketing approach