You! Newsletter: Vol. 25, No. 1 –

At Cranium we often work with organizations that have internal design teams.

I recently received an email from a new client asking “What role does our design team take in shaping our brand?

Your design team plays an important part of your brand and how it is seen by your audience. They are trained visual communicators. They help to define every impression your brand makes. Think of them as storytellers who translate your company’s vision and values into touchable moments. Every logo, website button, and even the spaces between your words shape how your audience feels about you.

Take for example, the new Cracker Barrel fiasco. While they are considered a mature brand, they missed the mark with a horrendous roll out of their rebrand. As we don’t know exactly what transpired behind the closed doors, what we do know is they dropped the ball on all levels of best practices in rebranding. At the highest level, they didn’t understand their audience. The strategy has so many flaws it is hard to cover all of them here. The design team should also take some responsibility in asking the right questions, deliberating the core brand shift, and understanding how the rebrand inherently shapes the future of the brand.

But here’s the heart of it: at the core of every brand is a purpose, a mission, a story that connects. It’s about designing experiences that make people feel understood, valued, and invited in. When your team works on design projects, they need to understand the brand from top to bottom. Your design team should be constantly asking, “Does this reinforce our brand story? How does this make our customers feel? Are we speaking directly to them with a sense of purpose and engagement?”

Furthermore, too often there is a disconnect from the various departments within an organization. I often see many design teams get frustrated because the proposed design is shot down over-and-over again by the administrative leadership. The issue is typically not within the design itself, it’s because the design team has not been given all the information necessary to execute a solid creative piece that falls within the brand core. Designers are creative people. If they are not given the right tools or information, guess what? They will create it.

When you empower your designers to champion empathy and curiosity, to get to know your customers as people with real emotional and tangible needs, you create a brand that truly resonates. That’s what separates a forgettable brand from a beloved one. So, engage your design team at every point of of contact with your customers. Brief them on your business, branding, sales, marketing strategies, and encourage them to be creative. Remember, they’re center stage in shaping not just your image, but your entire relationship with your audience.

~Alex Valderrama – Cranium Agency