173,000 → 0
Stores worldwide. It owned the market and went bankrupt: it thought it sold film, but it was selling memories.
Branding
Your brandisn't your logo.
A brand is built from the inside out: who you are, what you say and what you do. Design is the part people see; here I show you everything else.
Team
Customer
Service
Social
Concept
Language
Experience
Logo
Color
YOUR BRAND
No one buyswhat they don't understand
What branding is
Design is a tool. The brand is everything else.
Your brand is the sum of every experience at every touchpoint: your product, your service, your space and the way you communicate. The logo is just one part of the visual identity, and the visual identity is just one part of the brand.
- 01IdentityWho we are: personality, values, promise and what makes you unique.
- 02ImageWhat we project: what you do, what you say and how people see you.
- 03Strong brandWhen the two line up, people get you and choose you.
Brand
Visual identity
Logo
Why it matters
We don't compete on price,
Kodak
Apple
Brand value
Disney
Coca-Cola
Apple
We don't compete on price,
we compete on value
The most successful brands don't have the prettiest logo: they know exactly what they mean to people, and they back it up in everything they do.
~600
Stores. Far fewer than Kodak, and still people line up every time a new one opens.
×5
Apple is worth almost five times more than Samsung. Not because of the best phone, but because it knows what it stands for.
It doesn't sell a theme park.
It sells magic.It doesn't sell a soda.
It sells happiness.It doesn't sell technology.
It sells simplicity.
Brand DNA
It's not about being different, it's about being meaningful
Your brand concept is the core message that sets you apart from your competitors. Everything else, logo included, comes from there.
The most common mistake
A fork and knife say you're a restaurant. Anyone can say that.
A brand designed only on the owner's taste and a few references ends up hollow: it looks good, but says nothing about you.
The six questions that define your brand
Who am I?
Where am I?
What do I do?
How do I do it?
Who is it for?
Why?
The formula
Your concept lives where three things meet
Something your business truly has, that your customer cares about, and that your competitors aren't saying. That's where you score.
What you have
What your
customer cares about
customer cares about
What no one
is saying
Your concept
is saying
Experiential value
What people feel when they come into contact with your brand.
Symbolic value
What your brand says about the person who choose you.
Functional value
What your brand solves in your customer's life.
A brand is a system
The system is born
A · Visual identity
B · Verbal identity
C · Sonic identity
Strategic color
Naming
Architecture
The system is born
alongside the logo
Using the logo for everything wears it out. A well-built brand is recognizable even without the logo: by its color, its typography and its voice.
Brand concept
Aa
Logo, palette, typography, graphic assets and photography style.
Hey there! How can I help?Good morning, sir.
Tone, language and messaging. The same greeting can be said a thousand ways.
Sounds and music that go with your brand in ads and presentations.
It isn't picked by taste: it's picked by looking at where your competitors are.
Different, simple and consistent. A name fills up with meaning over time.
Order inside, success outside: how your brands and products work together.
A brand is the sumof everything it does
The 5 Cs of branding
We get hundreds of messages a day and almost none of them stick. These five factors make the difference.
Content
What to say, how to say it and where. Talk about what matters to your people.
Coherence
Everything you do connects back to your brand brand.
Consistency
A brand needs time to become a brand. It's built day by day.
Constancy
You can't talk about value if you talk with fear. Stand by your message.
Confidence
First you earn their trust. Then their mind and their heart.
THE SIXTH CThe customer.
The other five exist to strengthen your bond with them: more loyalty, a better reputation and an edge people can see.
From the inside out
If your team doesn't buy it,
If your team doesn't buy it,
neither will your customers
A brand grows on the inside before it connects on the outside. A team that shares its philosophy defends it without being asked.
Be a leader, not a bossMotivated teamLoyal brand
CUSTOMER
BRAND
Team
Do you need a rebrand?
Not every brand needs a new logo
Changing a logo your people recognize throws away years of recall. Whether it needs to change comes down to a single question.
Does your community still connect with your brand?
Your people still recognize you
The logo stays- They remember you by name and recommend you.
- They identify with what your brand stands for.
- They look for you and come back for you.
What it needs: sharpening the concept, the system and the consistency so your brand looks the same everywhere.
Your community lost the connection
Full rebrand- People no longer remember your brand.
- It no longer identifies with who you are today.
- There's no way for your audience to connect with you.
What it needs: a new logo and a complete identity that reconnects with your people.
How I apply it
You don't start by designing. You start by understanding.
Inside the Rojas Method: seven phases grouped into four stages. Each one answers a question before moving on to the next.
Stage 01 · Understand
PHASE 01Deep dive into the businessWhat's happening?
PHASE 02Brand auditWhy is it happening?
Stage 02 · Define
PHASE 03Brand strategyWho am I?
Stage 03 · Design
PHASE 04Brand identityHow do I present myself?
PHASE 05RolloutWhere do I show up?
PHASE 06Brand guidelinesHow do I communicate?
Stage 04 · Go live
PHASE 07Ongoing supportHow do we keep going?
Launch
Growth
RecommendedCorporate
Pricing, timelines and what each plan includes in the section Plans.
Self-assessment
Does your brand say who you are?
Seven questions, two minutes. At the end I'll tell you where your brand stands and which plan it.
Question 1 of 60%
AgencyPrint shopWebSocial
After delivery
Branding doesn't end when I hand over the guide
Agencies, community managers, print shops: every vendor can pull your brand in their own direction. I stay with you so everything that goes out respects its concept.
See monthly supportWhat everyone asks
before getting started
Why not just design the logo?
I can, but a logo without a concept looks good and says nothing. First we define what makes you unique; the logo comes from there and works alongside a complete system.
Why does it take several weeks?
Because you don't start by designing. Before I sketch anything, I get to know your business, analyze your competitors and define your concept. That work is what makes the brand work.
I already have a logo. Do I still need branding?
Yes, but not necessarily a new logo. If your people still recognize you and connect with you, the logo stays and we work on the concept, the language and the system around it. Only when your community no longer remembers or connects with your brand is it time for a full rebrand.
Which plan is right for me?
Take the self-assessment on this page: in two minutes I'll tell you where your brand stands and which plan fits it. If you'd rather, let's just talk.
Let's talk about your branding project
Ready to build your brand from the inside out? Let's book a quick call and I'll walk you through how to get started.
Book a call