our ideas

Creating your brand is one of the most important steps in defining your business identity. The stronger and more recognizable your brand, the more likely you can achieve your goals and succeed. At Michigan Creative, we strive to make you think about your business in a new light when developing anything branding related. Here are some of the steps we go through and some of the elements we ask you to consider when creating your brand. 

Research & Homework

I know you thought you had been done with homework years ago, but at Michigan Creative, we ask you to help us understand what you do. Depending on the brand elements requested you’ll get homework that asks you to think critically about your goals and checkpoints for your brand. We have you research your brand and your competitors’ brands, asking questions like:

• What are they doing right? 
• What are they doing wrong? 
• How can we be better? 

We also have you look at brands you envy: 

• What makes Patagonia’s website so great? 
• Why is Nike’s branding so recognizable? 

We work with you to emulate the best qualities of your favorite brands and your competition to create something that will blow your competitors out of the water. All of this and more gets discussed in meetings with the MC team. Once we feel like we know you, we move on to the next step! 

Brainstorm & Creation

This is the most fun part of the branding process! We take your homework and the topics covered in our discovery meetings and present them to the team. When Michigan Creative is building a brand, we like to include everyone. You’ll have the creative director and marketing director’s input and also input from the web team. Even your project manager will have a crack at some of your messaging. We believe different perspectives on your branding help simulate all the walks of life that will be viewing it in the real world. Once the brainstorming is complete, the project will move through the creative departments until we’ve landed on all of the elements of your brand, including name, logo, messaging, archetype, onliness statement, and so much more.  

The Presentation

I lied before. The presentation is the best part of the process. Once our team has created the elements that define your brand, it’s time to present. We’ll dive deep into our creative decisions. You’ve never heard someone explain color theory quite as in-depth as our creative director does. Who knew your signature colors could convey so much emotion? This is why we keep your brand materials under lock and key until they’re all complete. You need to see the brand as a whole. Who cares if you say “just do it” without the Nike symbol? Your brand is a moving machine. It needs all the elements to function. After the presentation, we can work collaboratively to tweak the finer details if necessary, but chances are you’ll love it. 

Implementation

Okay, you have this sweet brand, so what next? This last step can feel very daunting but don’t worry. MC is here to be your knight in shining armor. We’re the experts, after all. As we were developing your brand, we also brainstormed the marketing tools that best fit you. We can’t wait to use your new brand on a new website or some new merch. Whatever you want to do with your brand, MC is here to help. 

If you’re interested in discovering your brand’s full potential, contact us! Also, stay up to date with all the latest marketing and business tips and trends! Don’t forget to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, The Creative.