We're much more thorough. Our digital branding processes and projects personify who we are as people, as well as the value we provide.
Our creative expertise and the experience of working with multi-channel retailers such as Fenwick, American Golf and Brown Thomas has unearthed innovative ways of cementing online and offline harmony between brands and their customers. And it all starts by getting under the skin of the business.
We’re no logo and website drive-thru.
Understanding a Brand
Our consultation exercises are where we gain a true insight into your business and brand. By doing so, we are able to establish an understanding of its story. Its people. Its pathway. Its potential.
Interacting with stakeholders, staff members on the shop floor and customers alike grants us access to the journeys and experiences of various people associated with a brand. All of which aid our creative process in the development of a digital language that truly translates the in-person experience.
Long before we evolved the animated store doorman of Brown Thomas greeting you at various touch points online, we’d immersed ourselves within their business and witnessed such ‘surprise and delight’ moments for ourselves. As a result, this was one example where we were able to establish an online and offline harmony to establish a consistent user journey at all touchpoints.
Another example would be the transition of the in-store magazine into a digital version.
Brown Thomas advocates are well-versed with all the in-store magazine has to offer. Being able to access it in a familiar format digitally was a triumph for tech-savvy Thomas Brown shoppers.
For us, the interactions with a brand, and our understanding of it, are crucial. It’s part of our process. A tried and tested process. Trust that we can build out your digital identity with unmatched passion and purpose.
Developing a Digital Identity
Ronald Abram came to us as a heritage family jeweller with a salon based in Hong Kong. Whilst they’re still very much that, they now have a digital identity and ecommerce platform that translates to worldwide audiences and echoes their ethos across new revenue streams.
By taking elements of the physical store and the customer’s experience there and reimagining it, it allowed for a similar high-end customer experience online.
Here, elements of the design system were inspired by the physical aspects of their products and property. One interpretation sees how the eclectic shapes of the jewels and definitive cuts of the gem are weaved throughout the design patterns. But loyal customers will also appreciate how the motif from the historic entrance gate at the salon inspired us.
You can’t force feed a brand to consumers. Although some do try to with aggressive marketing tactics. This may see short-term success but zero longevity or loyalty. We’ve always been of the belief that the best way to establish your brand is with your story.
A story – all the best brands have one.
Ronald Abram's story is associated with his family. A legacy we try to reflect in our approach to their online presence. You will have your own story too but you can’t just tell an audience what your brand represents and expect them to believe it.
Instead, you have to be disruptive enough to grab their attention. Creative enough to capture imagination. Thoughtful enough to build momentum. And shrewd enough to instigate revenue.
The likelihood of people buying into your products or services and returning based on a digital assault with no identity is unlikely. It has to be more emotive than that.
Talking Your Design Language
Once we’ve embedded ourselves within your brand and applied our expertise, we’re able to deliver a digital philosophy for ongoing design, development and marketing strategies. This allows for a seamlessness in the fabric of everything you do. From your offline advertising to your order confirmation emails, all signs reinforce the brand.
Whilst design systems offer stability and orderliness they open the door to more creative and efficient output too. Pattern libraries increase productivity in a cost-effective manner because ideas and designs are being built upon rather than always starting from scratch. This is prevalent across the creative overhaul we carried out for Ireland's oldest department store, Arnotts.
A pattern library full of character and emotion was grown from original brand guidelines and blueprints which were extended, digitised and inserted into various touch points across Arnott’s online experiences. Connecting with an existing audience base as well as enticing new customers is all part of our digital branding process which recognises the importance of linking online and offline experiences.
Online Evolution
After an effective design system is established, it paves the way for improved consistency and efficiency for all concerned, across all platforms. Be it your marketing department creating content for blogs or social media where your tone and voice will be represented accurately or how your values will be stamped across digital adverts through thoughtful design, your story will be seen and heard.
Offline Appreciation
For a lot of our retail clients, their journey began long before ecommerce. They’d already built a successful brand. To keep pace they required an online presence. The fear of disconnect occurring and undoing years of hardwork in the offline space is a real concern.
Transitioning the narrative from a physical store into the digital arena requires a certain level of expertise. Expertise that comes with the sort of experience gained through trial, error and success. Onstate now stands tall in the online retail arena, having delivered multiple digital transformation projects that perfectly capture the offline in the online.
Such transitions have to be seamless. After all, what separates your brand from the competition is your story and how it’s presented to your customers, particularly in the digital space through digital branding.
