Cadbury’s SERIOUSLY understood the assignment ✅

This festive season you may have noticed that instead of splashing the cash on flashy ad campaigns, lots of brands are going back to basics with their promotional pushes 👀

And with the current cost of living crisis, you can understand why big-budget campaigns could fall flat.

But in our humble opinion, no one’s done it quite as marvellously as Cadbury’s with their new 5-star ad campaign ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

By scrapping the old logo and bringing in an ultra-sleek, uber-simple new one, they’ve drummed up some major hype without breaking the bank.

Give their no-nonsense ad a peek here.

Lovin’ the sound of low-maintenance marketing?

I've gotchuu.

At Surge, we know that one of the best foundations for stress-free future marketing is having KILLER brand visuals that speak for themselves.

So, whether you're a new kid on the block in the early stages of developing your brand or a seasoned business owner fancying a New Year’s revamp, read for our FIVE STEPS to FIVE STAR visual branding 🔥

⭐ Sort your Typography

First impressions are important, and recent studies have concluded that your choice of font can have a biiiggggg impact on how your brand personality is communicated to your customers. (Source: The Serif). That means your font should totally echo the vibe of your business.

Try asking yourself these questions when considering your signature font...

Do I want to be a minimalist or maximalist?
Am I more of a Comic Sans or a Times New Roman kinda service?
Has my chosen font been tested for readability?
Will my font resonate with my ideal client?

Wanna go one step further? Design your own unique font with software like Calligraphr , to take your typography game from snooze-worthy to sensational!

⭐ Consider a logo

Don't worry, you don't have to reinvent the wheel here. Your logo could be as simple as a monogram or wordmark. Just remember, whatever you decide on, this logo should be stamped all over your public profile, so it ABSOLUTELY has to be...

Simple
Flexible
Memorable
Distinctive

If you can't imagine it on a billboard, go back to the drawing board 😉

⭐ Get a colour palette

Not to sound too much like *marketing for dummies*, but colours really do evoke emotions when promoting your service. For example, if you’re a wellness brand, you'll wanna steer clear of the cherry reds and embrace cooler, calmer tones.

User-friendly apps like Canva, which allow you to save your brand colours and templates for every project, are infinitely useful in keeping that all-important consistency. Best of all, you don’t have to be a graphic design whizz to get to grips with it 🥳

Pssst...Why not give this guide to colour psychology a read to freshen up your knowledge?

⭐ Level up your visuals

Visuals are SO important for humanising your business and showing exactly what your service is about to potential customers. 65% of business executives agree that photographs and illustrations are key in communicating your brand story (Design Rush). We hate to break it to you, but those fuzzy photos that might have worked for your dodgy 2017 webpage ain't gonna cut it!

So, put aside some time to call in a professional to capture the best bits of your service. Or, if you’d rather DIY, make sure you’ve got some good lighting, a super-duper camera, a clear vision and get to work!

⭐ Create a visual-brand guide

Now that you've made all those BIG changes, you need to make sure you keep organised. Trust me, you won't be able to colour match by just 'eye-balling' it! Take note of all of the above info and secure it into one succinct portfolio for you or members of your team to refer to time and time again.

For some inspo, take a look at these stellar examples of brand guides on Pinterest here.

And there you have it! 5 sure-fire ways of making your branding 5-star worthy.

If you're in need of more marketing magic, give our LinkedIn and Instagram a follow✨