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Brand Foundations

It all starts here // Brand Foundations and creative direction for go-getting brands.

This is an empowering and proven step-by-step four week 1-2-1 process, where you work alongside Liz as your creative and strategic mentor.

Liz will take you through all the steps needed to gain utter clarity so your brand can be built on the strongest foundations, so you can quickly create an irresistible brand.

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// Brand Foundations

Your Brand Foundations are the building blocks, the backbone; it’s all the work that needs to be done BEFORE a website, logo, or photography can be created.

The work involves research, tons of creative thinking, generation of ideas, sharp strategy, questioning and commercial know-how, all coming together to create a compelling brand framework. 

Once you have your Brand Foundations in place making decisions in your business becomes effortless, you know immediately and instinctively what is right for your brand and what isn’t a good fit.

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how does the process work?

It’s designed to create complete clarity in your business, making sure that the whole brand fits together in a cohesive way enabling you to communicate your brand magic to your customers simply and effectively (to get & keep more of those magic customers or clients!)

The package lasts 4 weeks and is split over three sessions with Liz (4 x 2hrs).

Each session has a clear focus and Liz walks you through the process step-by-step, with ‘homework’ in between - the information and work you need to progress to the next step with real confidence. This is a very immersive process, and so Liz only works with one client at at time, so she can really throw herself into your business and ensure you get the most tailored and exciting brand.

The process will save you time and money as any designers (web, brand etc.) can be booked in at the beginning of the // Brand Foundation work, so their work can start the minute we finish. Our web and graphic designers work on the same timeline, so you don’t waste a second. Liz will brief your designers for you, and ensure they are ‘on the same page’ from the get go, or you are free to take your Brand Foundations to your own team, either way be warned - it’s likely that you will want to make changes to your website and branding on the back of this work!

Liz is generous with her knowledge (and contacts), and has an uncanny knack to ‘see’ how a brand should be presenting itself best to elevate to the next level. She will encourage you to think big, and help you with a plan to get there.

 

what do I get?

Other than realising the potential in your brand? An unshakeable vision, a plan to get where you want to go, clarity on your offering and pricing…you want more? Oh go on then. You get unshakable confidence, clarity and bags of motivation and ideas. Oh hang on you want a tangible thing. Gottcha.

Well of course you get your bespoke // Brand Foundations - our printed Brand Bible and your brand roadmap (and tea, you will get lots of cups of tea).

what’s included.

 

Vision & Values

//  A clear vision for your business, with understanding of the impact you are looking to create.

//  A compelling set of brand values, and your brand essence; these will guide all your decisions in your business

//  A compelling brand story

//  Help with your launch plan (for new businesses) and clarity around your company name if needed

Clarity & Confidence

// Streamlining of your product range, services and prices

// A plan for what to create or sell in your business to maximise your income

// A clear understanding of your brand magic, and what your niche is

//  A compelling brand tagline, this can be used across marketing materials and website

//  Understanding where you sit in the market, and being clear on your competitors and what makes you different

//  A consistent brand tone of voice, help with what you are and what you’re not

Connection & Direction

//  A clear written outline of your ideal client/s profiles, so you can speak directly to your tribe

//  Ideas for marketing your business both on and offline

//  Direction on your photographic style. Styling for shoots outlined and a curated bank of royalty free brand images selected, which will be available for you to use immediately

//  Social media platform choice, deciding which most appropriate for your business, and what the look and feel and call to action should be

Look & Feel

//  A thorough understanding of your brand season, with guidelines on what that means for your brand

//  Your brand colours selected, with reasoning

//  A bespoke brand mood board to outline the look and feel of your brand; with photos (for inspiration) please note this is not the same as a branding board, we will not be creating your logos within this package.

//  A bespoke Pinterest board, for inspiration on your brand look and feel

//  A creative brief, which can be supplied to anyone working on your business (website designers, graphic designers, photographers, social media managers, VA’s etc.)

FAQs

 

I already have an established business, how will this process help me?

Great question. You may be feeling that this is a step that perhaps was skipped at the beginning and perhaps it’s too late now. This is really normal, in our haste to get our business live we often skip ahead and get the logo and website created. You gotta earn some money at the beginning, right?

Many of my clients have been in business for years (some are 20 years +) and they decide to do this work, as they realise that it’s a very good investment.

Once you elevate your brand things change for the better, you win more work, gain more customers or clients and ultimately have the drive and plan to make more money and escape the hustle. For some their business needs a shake up, perhaps things aren’t working as they would like, they want to pivot, create something new, or simply fall back in love with their brand.

This process helps with creating clarity, direction and reinvigorating your passion for a business that may not be serving you in the best way right now. We cover your vision and your working week/month and what you would like that to look like and work back from there. We look at your packages, prices, products and the business as a whole. This is about creating a business that works for you, on your terms.

I have an idea for a business but it’s not yet up and running, is this the right for me?

This work is exactly what you need to do as a new fledgling business. I work with many start-up clients who have decided to invest in setting up their new business the right way from the outset, knowing it will save them time and money down the line.

Often women who are leaving a corporate job and setting up on their own, or have become mothers and don’t want to go back to the daily grid and are looking for a more flexible way to work, with more freedom to enjoy their growing families.

By being super clear on who your business is for, what you want to be known for, who your ideal clients are and where they hang out and make buying decisions is so critical to early success for any brand. Get this wrong and you will end up boomeranging back to this phase over and over down the line. Get this right and your brand will take off.

What if I don’t have the time, I just need a website, like, yesterday.

I understand, it can feel like an additional step, and like it will slow things down. Trust me when I say that without having solid foundations in place, everything else will take 10 times as long! Once you are super clear on your brand direction, the extras; brand design (logos, fonts choices etc) website design, photography, social media posts, marketing materials - well its all built on the foundations. This work makes making decisions fast, efficient and gives a real sense of confidence and control in your business. You will know what is right and what isn’t immediately (and why!).

Another real benefit of working with elevate is that if you need a website (yesterday) I have a team that can book your time slot in, and be briefed by me, so that the work seamlessly flows on, without time delay, so the website will be built faster and more efficiently that if you were trying to do it alone, I promise! Good designers (web and brand) typically have a few months lead time, so we book in your time at the beginning.

Couldn’t I just do this work myself?

Yep, sure you can. To be frank it will take much longer as first you will need to work out what the steps are, and then try to work through them on your own! There are many books that may help, but often when we are too close to a business it’s hard to be objective and know the right path. Many of my clients say to me ‘wow I didn’t know what I didn’t know!’ The process has been likened to the Matrix film by one client, whereby he said that now his eyes are open, he can’t stop seeing brands through his new lens!

This is a proven process, where I am your creative director, mentor and guide. I have years of experience in this field and a super keen eye for design and aesthetics as well as being a marketing nerd! I ask the right questions at the right time and prompt you to go deep and really examine your business from all angles, this is so much more than just strategy.

Working together on your //Brand Foundations will guarantee you get the work done, and finish feeling confident, motivated and super clear on your business.

This is for people who want to get the work done, and get on with growing their businesses, doing what they are best at, the stuff in their genius zone.

How do we meet for our sessions?

The sessions are held virtually on Zoom, each session is around two hours, and then you will be given homework to complete in-between our meetings. The whole time we work together I will be focused on your business, I often have my best ideas in the shower or on a run!

I need some help with email marketing and the nuts and bolts of how to actually run the business, is this covered?

Yes, we talk about your process, uncover the areas where you could automate and save time. We can cover CRM and email marketing as an overview, but if you need help to actually set this stuff up, in person, someone to sit down with you and answer all your questions (and know what would be the best fit for your particular set up and business in the first place) we have an expert in the team that specialises in just this field, you can be referred to her to get the help you need.

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“Liz has been a huge help on defining and refining the strategy of our brand redesign. 

 

Her Brand Foundations approach was strategically rigorous and visually liberating, and has given the team a greater level of appreciation and confidence in how best to bring the new branding to life”

// Bob Morrison

Windsor & Eton Brewery