Designed for mass production

Rewind 4 years and I'm leaving uni with liver on the brink of failure, but a head filled with ambition, I'm leaving uni with 89 other communication design graduates, from a university that's one of the 130 higher education establishments in the UK. A few quick sums tell me that's a hell of a lot of competition for a coveted design role, a role that I've just spent more money than I've ever seen learning how to do… 

It's nearly four summers later and I've been doing said coveted role for every summer since - somehow amongst all this fierce competition for jobs and mass design production I've made it stick - phew!  Now there's a fresh crop of talent on the horizon, champing at the bit, with the same shaky liver and more importantly the same lofty goals that my four years younger self set out, and as bleakly discussed earlier it's tough out here - but with a will there's a way! 

Every budding designer will approach the industry differently and landing a great role is always part talent, part determination and a little slice of luck - but promising, hungry designers will find success. So enough of the negativity, I want to share with the new breed a few nuggets of advice that helped me land the roles I've wanted so far:

Be selective.

There's a lot of fresh talent scrambling around to land a prestigious spot around this time of year - but don't succumb to desperation. Your portfolio will become your lifeline in industry, it's your access key to the roles you want, and the truest reflection of the skills you can offer. So starting at a studio that you don't have an appetite for will lead to a lack of conviction in your work - a conviction that you won't easily be able to shake when you show your book. Target the agencies you want to work at and believe in yourself.

Get noticed in the physical world.

Having an online folio is pretty much essential, but can you really make your website own-able, does it truly reflect something of your personality without compromising the integrity of the work that's on it - it's a hard task. Make something physical because a lovely piece of print, showing an investment of time and skill is a hard thing to discard. Get yourself out there, poking your head in your favourite agencies. Why? Because people buy into people, you become more than just another website tab waiting to be closed, you’re creating a greater interaction between yourself and your chosen studio.

Don't try to be the finished article.

If you feel you’re a fully rounded designer don't bother looking for a job, set-up your own studio! But like the other 99% you probably have strengths and weaknesses, try to identify these and pull out your best assets in your book. As a young creative, experienced heads will be looking forward to shaping you into a refined product, you don't have to be complete, you just have to show that what you do best really adds to the agency.

So good luck to the next crop, don’t be anxious, there's a fair sized mountain to climb ahead, but like every peak it's not just the climb that's rewarding, it's the view once you reach the top.

Written by
Chris Ebden
Designer (and former intern) – Truth

Truth Achieve Elite Status in Drum Design Census

We are feeling rather pleased with ourselves at Truth. 

We have been voted onto the UK Elite Design Agency Table.

How did we do?

No.7 – Elite Agencies Table.

No.3 – Client Satisfaction Poll. 

Top 15 in the Peer Poll. 

Top 15 in the Financial Table.
 

What is the Design Census?

The Design Census ranks agencies based on the three criteria used in all The Drum’s Census reports: financial performance, client satisfaction and peer recommendation.

Financial performance is ranked by information supplied by agencies, whilst client satisfaction is measured using the RAR (Recommended Agency Register) system of client ratings. Peer recommendation is measured by a public poll on The Drum website. Agencies to appear in all three rankings will then be ranked against each other to form an Elite Agencies Table.

The Results

The valued support of our amazing clients and peers has elevated us to the dizzy heights of the No.7 on the Elite Agencies Table which means we are not only ‘excellent at what we do’ but we are also highly valued by our clients. This is clearly reflected by our position of 3rd on the Client Satisfaction Table. It is this number that really means the most to us, with client satisfaction and personal service being our priority.

To hear more about the great relationships we build with our clients. Get in touch.

Should Tesco rebrand?

On a recent car trip my six year old son, Dylan, recently pointed out to me that he recognised a Sainsbury’s store, ‘because Sainsbury’s is orange’. Being a brand whore this intrigued me and I decided to quiz him further on other brands, and more specifically supermarkets. What colour is Waitrose I asked? ‘Green daddy, dark green’, he replied.  ‘And Morrisons?’, ’Yellow daddy, and green too, but just a bit’, he replied. Asda? ‘Green’. Marks & Spencer? ‘Dark green as well, I know because grandma goes there’.

He adds that ’Netflix is red’ and that ‘Sky believe in better daddy!’. He also adds that ‘Ocado doesn’t have a colour, it has fruit’, (his knowledge of the Ocado brand is purely based on the vans that deliver to our home). Then I asked about Tesco, his reply? ‘I don’t know daddy, is it black?‘. Now, I know that I have taken him to a Tesco store on several occasions, but for some reason the branding had not registered with him. 

I know that six-year-olds are not the target demographic for Tesco, but I guess that they are not exactly top of the list for the other supermarket brands either. Maybe what the others have, is more brand presence or a better connection with consumers. Tesco is often criticised for being a faceless corporation, trying to take over the world, and as the second largest retailer in the world (based on revenue), you could easily argue they are. However, they are often accused (sometimes unfairly) of single-handedly destroying our high streets and squeezing the life out of our farming industry. For this reason alone they should be on the charm offensive, they should work extra hard on getting their personality right, and addressing the negativity through brand experience. Many of our other large supermarket chains are equally guilty of the same practises, but deflect it with brand experience, mask it with personality, and offset it with high profile CSR activity. 

Obviously a six year old is unaware of the negative (or positive) press a brand might receive and all that surrounds it. A six year old is free to simply judge branding at face value and purely as a cosmetic solution, which is fascinating. Sometimes we could all benefit from looking at the world through the eyes of a child – that simple clarity, free from the white noise of our busy lives and corporate spin voodoo. They don’t over think things, they just say it as they see it, and it is beautiful to witness.

So, is it the branding?

A company’s branding is not only the delivery mechanism for their personality, but also the cosmetic veneer that envelops the brand experience and the company’s culture. Tesco has several aspects to its brand that buck the trend of most supermarket branding rules. But are they really faceless? I would say no, but as the brand is so sterile it is borderline generic, and so their face is forgettable. Bland would be a more accurate description, over brand. Now, this may be a deliberate ploy, based on market research or focus groups, but Tesco do little (visually) to make you warm to them as a consumer. This is bad news when you consider that branding is usually an all important first impression a company has on a potential customer.

Feeling blue.

Tesco has traditionally always used red and blue on white as their brand colours. Patriotic as this is, it feels sterile and cold. The blue headlines on white feel corporate or medical, not enticing and welcoming. As a brand, it lacks the warmth of Sainsbury’s orange and the tradition and prestige of Waitrose green. In fact, all it communicates is blandness and almost a lack of effort to connect with customers in a meaningful way. A warmer colour would go a long way towards injecting passion and warmth into their frosty appearance, and maybe even make them more emotive and human in the eyes of potential customers.

The clothes that their words wear.

The expanded serif typeface is overly spiky and angular, it feels tired and dated (not traditional), more appropriate for the signage on a medieval castle carved into stone, rather than a family supermarket. The use of capitals is SHOUTY, and it doesn’t have the warmth and personality of many of the other supermarkets. Ironically the softer Clarendon typeface that Tesco traditionally used is now embraced by several supermarkets, mainly because it has personality and a certain bounciness to it, that softens the message it is communicating. Competitors like Sainsbury’s use serif typography but it is softer and more flowing with its rounded bowls and tapered serifs, the use of lowercase is more personable and friendly. Waitrose use an elegant and rounded sans-serif that feels minimal and elegant to underpin their premium positioning. That is why the choice of typeface is a key part of any branding project, it is the accent with which your words speak, and it speaks volumes about your brand.

Personality check.

Tesco lacks a face or a recognisable personality that we, as consumers, can associate with, and align ourselves to. Jamie Oliver made Sainsbury’s feel like a friendly, food-focussed company that had your best interests at heart. Jamie brought passion and creativity to their customer experience. Tesco would benefit from a shot in the arm of celebrity juice from an appropriate brand ambassador (think Jamie Oliver, not Kerry Katona). Aldi has developed a cult-like status by having great personality and a sense of humour that people warm to.

Obviously a company is much much more than simply how it looks. It is about culture, experience, product and most importantly people. I am not claiming that the negativity surrounding Tesco is because of their branding, far from it, but I don’t think the branding is doing enough to win customers over and shift the perception of the company. In summary, Tesco is getting a lot of little things wrong, adding up to a dysfunctional brand experience, which consumers are failing to connect with, other than simply convenience of location and price. As Tesco claim ‘Every little helps’ but in this case, every little hurts, particularly in the eyes of a six year old.

Written by
Darren Scott
Founder / Creative Director – Truth

The truth about brand identity

It amuses me (and baffles me) how little understanding so many people have about the role of designers and design agencies. I have been asked so many times – but what do you actually do? So I want to explain one of the most important ways in which design agencies support businesses – through growing and developing brand identity.

So what exactly is brand identity?

Your brand identity is how your company is seen and perceived by consumers and is what differentiates you from your competitors. People are often mistaken in thinking that a brand identity is only a company’s logo. Logos are so important, but there are many elements that make up a company’s identity. Including all of its communications to graphical elements and name. 

Like a person every brand has its own identity. A company’s personality, look and feel can have significant effect on its success. Your brand identity is what connects you to your consumers. Think about this – Why would you choose the more costly and well-known cornflakes brand over supermarkets own? That is Brand identity done well.

Stand out from the crowd.

A strong brand identity is unique, instantly recognisable, consistent and meaningful. A good brand will never go out of date. 

We all like to make good first impressions and this is no different for your brand. Your brand identity should draw in the viewer with its stylish design and pleasing aesthetics, creating a place for the brand in the viewer’s mind. What I’ve learnt is that even a small business can make a big first impression; a powerful identity can make a business seem much bigger than it is. Consequently, consumers are more likely to trust you and give you their business. 

A strong brand identity also creates loyalty. Loyal customers will continuously purchase products from their preferred brands, regardless of price. Ultimately brand loyalty leads to more consistent business, an increase in profits and ultimately a decrease in marketing costs.

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait till you hire an amateur.”

A weak brand is inconsistent, unprofessional and fails to connect with consumers. You could have the best product in the world but it will go unnoticed if the right people don’t identify with it. 

I’ve found that businesses with weak brand identities have often decided not to invest in their brand, using amateur, poorly resourced in-house staff or ‘quick fix’ websites. Though these options are cheaper, they often produce a brand identity that is impersonal and badly designed. It can be very detrimental to the company’s reputation and long-term customer relationships and lead to spending more in the long term.

Get it right.

Design agencies are experts at taking the core values of your business and communicating them in the right way for you. Professional designers have years and years of combined experience and have dedicated their lives to creating brands that work. 

What’s just as important as having a stylish and unique design, is the processes that an agency will go through before pen has been put to paper. Truth will put time and effort in to knowing your business inside out and develop a strategic plan for your future. Taking the time to go through these tried-and-tested strategic processes combined with our experience makes for a powerful and successful combination!

Written by
Angela Burnell
Creative Artworker – Truth

Why is client servicing so integral to agencies?

There’s no denying the importance of the  your customer has. So as an agency that creates brands and the experience of them, our own customer know-how is paramount to any level of success.

Many agencies often miss the importance of client servicing, but to enable a high level of client retention, it must be an integrated aspect of any agency offer.

There are a number of key elements that help create a positive client experience with an agency, here’s a run down of my top five…

1. Relationship, Relationship, Relationship.

This doesn’t mean you need to invite a client to your wedding reception, but it does mean that you should nurture a client relationship. Take the time to make a call on Friday afternoon and wish them a good weekend, give empathy about their excessive workload and make genuine offers of how you can help them. Over time you’ll find common ground and turn the relationship into a lasting one.

2. Making Life Easier.

A good account handler will strive to make their client’s job easier. It’s how we add value, and it’s how a client can start to trust your capabilities over time. Never assume a client thinks you’re great without proving it. At higher client level this might be a great piece of insight, or thought provoking competitor activity. It might just be helping out with pulling information together or reporting on levels of activity. It should be relevant and timely, and ultimately make your client’s life that little bit easier.

3. Managing Expectation.

Valuing a client is critical to their perception of you and your agency. If you commit to a deadline then stick to it. Remember that if you’ve promised a client they will have something, they may well have promised it to someone else; so if you can’t deliver it on time (and it must be a good reason) then manage the expectation and give the client plenty of notice. More often than not, clients will accept the delay if they are presented with a contingency at the same time. It shows that you and your agency have done everything possible to get the job done and this shows commitment to the relationship.

4. Show Genuine Interest.

Marketing professionals can be incredibly time-starved and as a result, they often don’t have time to stop and reflect at achievement. If you know they’ve got a board meeting to present results, then make a note and follow it up by asking how it went. Give genuine enthusiasm when things go well and your client took the time to tell you about it. Similarly, show support for when things don’t go as planned and how you can help to improve it next time.

5. Be The Epitome of Calm.

Agencies are stressful. They are fuelled by last minute demands and last minute changes without any movement on the deadline. Great client servicing is about communicating the challenges of short deadlines but that you will do everything you can to deliver it (making life easier again). Regardless of how busy you are, never show a client you’re stressed. It makes them nervous that you’re incapable of delivery. Mumble all you like in the office, but before you answer the phone, breathe and smile. They won’t even notice, but they will think you’re an agency in control.

Reputation Management.

In summary, client servicing should be about protecting your agency reputation and your personal one. As the face of the agency, client-servicing teams are the first and last point of contact, integral to the success of the client’s brand experience.

Jo Scott
Managing Partner, Truth Design.