An independent branding agency specialising in startups and rebrands.
We’re a small London-based branding agency that work with clients of all sizes across a wide range of industries, specialising in retail, hospitality and tech sectors. For more information, to view our full portfolio of work, or to discuss your branding requirements please get in touch today.
“I want to thank you on the new brand. It looks so good!”
Bridget Hugo, Founder of Franco Manca and BreadBread
We are a brand creation A-Team. A small, ex-international branding agency team working to international brand standards. Because we are small we keep our overheads down and thus our costs to clients. We specialise in a range of industries from artisinal food brands to tech startups.
Our Services
Zut Alors provide a full range of branding agency services. We can help you develop your brand from naming, positioning and identity through to full implementation programmes including websites, interiors, packaging, signage and clothing.
Our Specialisms
We work with businesses of all sizes across a wide range of industries, and specialise in artisinal food and hospitality brands (cafes, delis, restaurants and beverages), tech startups, property companies, estate agencies and consumer products.
We’re a brand creation A-Team. A small team of ex-international branding consultants. Having worked for top brand creation agencies we know that most are not interested unless a client has a wheelbarrow full of money to spend. Unfortunately most start ups don’t, but what they do have is a wealth of ideas.
That’s where we come in. We keep our overhead down and thus our fees, but we deliver at the same standard as an international branding consultancy because we are the same people that you’d be working with in an international branding consultancy.
The business was established in the early 2000s just to create brands. We lecture on the subject of brand creation, including at Oxford University and City of London University and have also authored an upcoming book called ‘The Common Sense Approach To Brand Creation’.
Normally 2-3 months, but it can be done more quickly if required – 4 weeks can be achievable. Equally it may take longer depending on the size of the project, complexity of deliverables, response times for feedback, or layers of decision-makers in your company.
A normal project splits into two parts.
Firstly, defining and articulating the brand. This covers vision, mission and positioning; values & culture; tone of voice and story; and identity system – logo and/or wordmark; fonts and typography; colourways; style of photography; and style of iconography etc. These elements are then formalised into a short set of brand guidelines.
Secondly, implementing the brand. This involves applying it to a range of elements such as packaging, interiors, signage, literature, website, stationery, vehicle livery and teamwear.
We offer a starter package for brand start-ups (rebrands are priced on the same basis). Please enquire.
A brand sits in the rarified atmosphere above the day-to-day noise of business. It articulates, using visual and verbal elements, what a business stands for and how it acts.
Brand and branding is about articulating what your business stands for and how it acts. It’s reputation is built over time from repeated and consistent repitition. Your audience forms an emotional connection to your brand, so having a consistent brand message & identity that communicates who you are effectively is an important and powerful tool. Businesses with strong brands are proven to consistently generate higher revenue growth than their competitors.
- Vision & Mission – Who we are and what we are going to be ‘famous’ for.
- Values & Culture – How do we act.
- Tone & Story – How do we come across in written and verbal communication.
- Logo & Identity – What face we are going to show to the world.
Defining your brand strategy – which we will do as part of the project – must come before any brand design, as it gives your brand a solid platform and direction. The brand strategy will ensure that your tone of voice, brand values and brand design are all in alignment.
It means that your customers and stakeholder groups have a positive impression of your business and what it stands for. As such it does the ground work so that you don’t have to.
A business requires a vehicle that encapsulates the potential of its possibilities and sets the scene – and thus the tone – for it to go out and do business.
Something that does the pre-work before the website is visited or an email sent. A vehicle that will really stand it apart. It needs to paint a picture in stakeholder’s minds of just what it is that it stands for – and then also engender a trust in what it will actually deliver. That is about more than creating a logo. It is about building a Brand.
Strong brands have fans rather than customers. People become aware of them and what they stand for without ever looking for them – they take on a momentum all of their own. One person becomes a believer and then tells others. These people become brand evangelists. This is fundamentally what needs to be achieved.
Yes, we need to create a stunning logo, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. We must build a powerful identity system around it and then wrap it in a compelling brand story. And most importantly of all we need to build it on the solid foundations of a clear, stated reason for being and a set of values that underpin everything that the brand does.
Successful brands are all about telling a story that their audience groups buy-into and relate to. It starts with defining the brand’s mission and market positioning, and ultimately, is used to populate the top level of the website and social media with content.
As part of our work we will write your compelling brand story. It will normally aim to be short and punchy in order to get your brand message across quickly and powerfully. Ideally it will break down into four paragraphs – the big picture issue, who we are, what we do and what it means to you.