Better branded in Britain?

Research conducted by Barclays Corporate Banking has revealed that a “Made in Britain” label on products adds so much perceived value that it easily justifies a premium price tag. The survey looked at tangible goods such as food & drink, fashion and automotive products, where the exclusiveness and pedigree of many make them highly sought after on the international market.

However, there is also no doubt that a brand design made in Britain also provides, not only added value, but a special measure of credibility. And in a world where audience opinion and loyalty is life and death to business, that can make all the difference.

More carefully thought-out and researched

At LOGO we have received full branding and stand-alone logo commissions from literally every part of the world, providing us with a first-hand understanding of what international clients are looking for and why they expect to find it in the UK. For one thing, they believe British creativity will provide, not only better looking design, but design that is more carefully thought-out and researched.

It is commonplace for companies engaged in marketing communications to say how much they like to get under the skin of the organisation or business they are working for and to “get into the shoes” of the target audience, but doing that and bringing the right knowledge back to nourish the design process are two different things. And it requires extra dedication when your client is half away around the globe.

Buying into a collective national standard

Another thing that attracts clients to British design, is the notion they are buying into a collective national standard of quality as well as the specific professional expertise of the designer and design consultant. (Also why so many more students from the rest of the world are attracted to UK design and art colleges). This positive prejudice is also helped by exceptional British achievements across many other parts of the creative industry; films, theatre and fine arts included.

In our own, very British design studio (located on a private estate in the heart of Devon), even though we are passionate about our work, we never lose our sense of humour and make sure creativity doesn’t lose touch with reality. Whilst our professionalism embraces the essential points of branding science, we are much less precious, jargon dependent and arrogant than some design agencies across the Atlantic tend to be. We also understand the value of finding new creative angles, challenging preconceptions about the creative outcome so there will be unexpected ideas, but with sensible reasons for considering them.

The service will be as good as it gets

Finally, we make sure that we always live up to another important expectation from a British provider; that the service will be as good as it gets. This isn’t simply about “proper”, old fashioned English manners, but giving long distance clients added consideration, being helpfully supportive, even when the brief suffers in translation or is based on premises that are socio-culturally quite removed from ours.

Design talent is international of course and some of our design team have joined us from other parts of the world. They might well be attracted to the pleasant lifestyle of South Devon, but they also tell us they want the opportunity to work with a British design agency because of the way we do things and a chance to produce the kind of branding that transcends cultural boundaries and has the chance of making its mark in the wider world.