Brand Revealer #09: "You cannot force people to think like you want them to think about your brand" with Florence Simonne
New Q&A with branding strategist, Florence Simonne + thoughts on exercising a Framework
👋 Hello brand enthusiast, how are you doing today?
Let’s discover our new Brand Revealer of the week. I also share insights from my FieldTrips event + some cool inspiration from bright brands I discovered.
💡Every month we have a guest for our short and sweet Q&A. Longer interviews will stay on the blog.
My goal is to demystify the word Branding so that anyone can understand its paradoxes and implement their version of Branding. By collecting an eclectic panel of definitions and visions of what Branding is and implies. Showcasing those who do, use, and expand Branding: Brand Revealers.
Short Q&A - Brand Revealer #09
I asked a few questions to Florence Simonne, a fellow art director on Bold Database by Veuve Cliquot, I discovered her profile and thought to bring her into our conversation around branding. She is French and navigates with ease several skills such as illustration, branding and UI/UX. PS: her logo is art!
Who are you?
My name is Florence Simonne and I am a freelance art director.
Your agency/studio
Where are you located?
🇫🇷 Toulouse, France.
What is your definition of Branding?
For me, branding is a wide range of professionnal fields. At first, there is the vision of the brand, its personnality and the way it want it to interact with its audience. It can be described with words but also with colors, sensations, and images. That is where I come in! I contribute to the elaboration of the brand in terms of shapes, colors and images. I work hand in hand with marketing experts, brand strategists, copywriters, but my specialization is visual design.
Florence
Branding is made of trial and error. The positioning takes effort, time and dedication. How can entrepreneurs recover from a branding that doesn't resonate yet with their audience?
Like you said, it takes time and effort! You have to allow time to do its job and let your audience become familiar with your brand.
You also have to accept a part of uncertainty when you introduce your brand to the world. You cannot force people to think like you want them to think about your brand. However, you can focus on various aspects of your brand to ensure consistency and effectively deliver a clear message.There have been many examples of brands making mistakes in their new positioning or logo design. For example, Gap introduced a completely different logo in 2010 that was not aligned with the brand's history and failed to communicate the right message. The new logo was generic and plain. There was so much negative feedbacks from the customers, Gap decided to go back very quickly to the former version. I think everyone can make mistakes, but you can always rectify and adjust.
Florence
What are the repeated words you hear about your Brand and Branding from your audience, teams, and people who discover you? (3 to 5 keywords)
Clear • Calming • Consistent
Florence
What is your best branding story from clients, yourself or an iconic brand you look up to?
One recent example that comes to my mind, although not necessarily the best, is the new logo of Burberry. It highlights the significance of history in the branding of long-established brands. History plays a crucial role in establishing reliability and trustworthiness. We have seen in recent years the trend of "blanding": logos have become minimalist, featuring sans serif fonts, often looking the same.
However, I believe this trend may be fading with the statement and introduction of Burberry's new logo. They decided to incorporate a historical symbol (the knight on horseback) and a typography with more character, directly inspired by their 20th-century logo. Only the choice of color can be considered modern. I think we might be witnessing of a new era of branding, throwing the "blanding" trend away.
Florence
Among all the beauty and wellness brands you have collaborated with, what recurring challenge have you observed?
The recurring challenge for beauty and wellness brands depends on whether they have a long history or not. For instance, I worked with an organic cosmetic brand that had been around for almost 50 years, with a founder who remained actively present in everyday decisions. The founder was adamant about preserving the brand's historical components, making it quite challenging to propose modern adjustments. I have noticed this pattern with some historic brands: they want to keep everything like it used to be, they end up becoming ''dusty brands'' nobody wants anymore. On the other hand, for completely new brands entering the market, the challenge is different. They want to be disruptive, new, never-seen before, while still respecting the rules and codes of the industry they want their products to fit in.
It is a quest for equilibrium, but that's precisely what I like about it!
Florence
You can discover her work and mindset at Florence Simonne
💡 Are you working on your framework?
I had a few weeks ago my first online event sharing my framework on Branding that I use for myself and some clients. It was specifically for creatives to empower them in the demanding process of Branding. It was an intense hour of share, insights and awakening for me and the attendees.
Learn • Create • Build • Empower
a framework, a life statement
This framework was an "Aha!" moment for me. It originated in my journal as a personal reflection, process and life statement. I realized it was a recurring pattern in the way I create and expand projects. Moreover, I saw the connections between this framework and the demanding process of branding. Trusting my intuition, I decided to break it down and organize it into a system applicable to creatives and beyond.
A few months ago, during a client pitch, I applied this process in the strategy phase of their positioning. Suddenly, we could see a clear roadmap towards their brand vision. But also their bigger purpose! It is still experimental, yet it aligns with the essence of branding: a constant work in progress.
I am currently writing a book about this framework that complements the FieldTrips. The book will also serve as a valuable tool during workshops and mastermind sessions starting in September. It will speak to creatives, Brand Revealers, and entrepreneurs.
🤩 Bright, they are!
Fresh Brand identity (a playful and light visual power with subtle animation that sparks interest. It is quite an e-commerce goodie and experience. Well crafted!)
Apollo and AI (B2B database to upgrade your sales strategy using AI)
The daily 1 min 1 brain hack (Do you have a minute for 1 question? I have grown fond of these very short newsletters, they do have a magnetic power. The 8 am newsletter is pretty awesome as well. My own recent attempt is PPSV)
Mastering the art of Branding (the podcast version of our talk with Sunita)
🎈 Fun brand(ING) prompt / 014
Within your industry, do you observe a "blanding" effect? How does your brand and visual identity pursue disruption?
Video, words, illustration, animation… you choose. Short and sweet.
The journey of cracking “your” code.
Yours creatively,
Keva