In this month’s DRG e-newsletter we speak to Brad Street, the Managing Director of Luminosity, a branding and marketing communications firm based in Perth. Brad talks about some of the elements involved in branding and web site development, and how Luminosity approaches the problems often faced by businesses in these areas.

What projects are you working on at the moment?
We are working on an interesting mix of projects, some of which are: development of marketing collateral and the annual report for a national health care provider; signage and shop fit-out design for a retail store preparing for franchising; design and production of a trade show exhibit for a private college; and development of a variety of marketing collateral for an international group of tertiary colleges

We have a variety of brand identity development projects on the go, including: branding for a floral designer; brand evolution for a local laser technology manufacturer and exporter; and branding realignment for a building company and a private hospital.

Web-specific projects include: development of web sites (some with content management systems) for university departments, a mining and earthmoving equipment company; a floral designer and a project home builder. We are also developing the web site and online-applications portal for a medical association, and we're conducting search engine optimisation (SEO) on a number of our clients' sites.

	Sites are often viewed as an evil necessity rather than a serious component of marketing. And integration into their overall marketing plan is often not even on the radar. This is usually due to limited awareness of what is achievable, or how to make it happen.

When people think about branding and website development, what are some of the things they typically do not take into account?

 “It's amazing how much frustration, time and money can be saved by good planning and solid strategies. From a branding perspective, many businesses overlook visual consistency as a real opportunity to strengthen their message and build brand recognition. Creating and managing a consistent visual theme is often not considered.”

Another common oversight is that branding is much more than just visual presentation - your logo is not your brand. We often see inconsistencies between the visual messages we develop for a client and other messages the business communicates. For example, if a company asks Luminosity to produce a logo, brochures and a web site that convey one set of messages, but the office foyer decorating or staff members' tone-of-voice communicate different messages, you have inconsistent branding.

In the area of web site development, a lack of specific goals for their site is quite common. Businesses know they need a site, or need to improve their existing site, but they don't take full advantage of what a site could do for their business. Many businesses could be more strategic about how they use their web site, including monitoring how visitors are using it, or if advertising is impacting on site traffic.

Web sites can be a great opportunity to streamline business processes and maximise returns on your marketing spend.

Many businesses often haven't clearly defined their target audience. Site content is often developed based on their own preferences, or on what their competitors are doing, rather than really focusing on their audience's wants and needs.

What problems can arise if these factors are not considered?
The main problem is that businesses don’t maximize their return on investment. They have dreams of what could be achieved and yet these aren’t achieved because of a lack of strategic thinking or solid planning.

Inaccurate or inconsistent branding often results in diluted market confidence in the company, and it's a wasted opportunity to build brand recognition and brand equity as the business grows. This takes time, and it's very difficult and costly to play catch-up when it comes to influencing the market's perception of your company after you realise your competition has the upper hand.