LMH is in the business of helping brands to realise their best identities. How did you go about this process with your own company?
Jemma Lester: Having a brand vision and visual identity that clearly reflects who you are and what you do is the first step in the marketing process, prior to activation. We asked ourselves the same questions as what we ask our clients: What is our point of difference? What solution can we provide luxury brands, better than anyone else in the industry? We then created a refreshed brand identity with consideration of the modern marketplace.
Was there anything interesting you discovered about your own company brand identity through this process?
Yes, it’s very easy to try and solve too many problems. We decided to specialise in what we do best and re-position ourselves as London’s leading luxury marketing agency, specialising in performance led, content-driven marketing.
What does your re-brand say about your company?
Our re-brand is visually more confident, bolder and sophisticated, which reflects who we are now as a team. It also reflects our new balanced approach, curating teams of experts strategically across a more diverse range of industries. This provides more opportunities for luxury brands to work with us in London and abroad. We have recently opened offices in Monte Carlo and Dubai.
Learn more about LMH's re-brand here.
Beyond visual signifiers (e.g. a refined logo), what are some other key parts to a company re-brand that might not be so obvious?
A brand's purpose and mission are often not noticeable to an audience at first glance, but they fundamentally underpin the rationale and direction. For LMH, our focus is to create meaningful connections between premium brands and high-net-worth audiences in global business capitals. Expanding our network of experts, creators and storytellers and enhancing our curatorial expertise is a key part of our re-brand.
When is the right time for a brand to consider a project to tweak or re-invent its identity, such as this? Are there any key business signifiers or timeframes?
It's all about timing. Marketplaces are increasingly turbulent and transformative, and that means brands need to be resilient, open minded and prepared for what happens next. A modern brand needs to inject emerging growth drivers like connectivity, sustainability, trust, simplicity, creativity, and digital into its purpose, mission and identity if it wants to stay relevant and meaningful. For LMH, we asked ourselves many questions based on how the market was changing and how we might respond with a re-brand: How might we better connect people? How might we show loyalty is a top priority? How might we cut through clutter and curate partnerships? How might we show we are imaginative and innovative?
Re-brands can sometimes get heat from customers if they stray too far from what people already know. What is the key to a successful re-brand?
Things change, and clients are pretty adaptive if you give them a good enough reason to re-connect with your brand. If I asked you what our brand previously looked like, would you remember? It’s important to embrace change and stay ahead in the transformative times we live in.
On the flip side, what are the advantages of a successful re-brand?
Often when people talk about "a brand", they’re referring to the physical mark (or logo) – something to identify the business. But a brand is more than a physical mark, it's an emotional experience, strengthened or weakened through every interaction with your business. And it is what people think, feel, and say about your business. Having the right (and effective) brand identity and strategy in place brings unity, clarity and harmony so that employees feel engaged and interested; it brings cohesive brand messaging; it helps you carve out a discernible place in the market; it strengthens every interaction and underpins decision making to grow as a business.
Can you tell me about another brand that has had a really successful re-brand recently and why you love it so much?
Aston Martin’s new wings is a bold move and great example of an iconic British brand repositioning to accelerate the brand’s growth and appeal to new audiences. I have followed the transition with interest, knowing how even a small change with such a storied brand can have such a huge impact emotionally.
The visuals were masterminded by Peter Saville, an icon of British graphic design and an inspirational creative figure. He said: “The Aston Martin wings update is a classic example of the necessary evolution of logotypes of provenance. Subtle but necessary enhancements not only keep forms fresh, but allow for new technologies, situations and applications to be accommodated in the future. The process was one of clarifying and emphasising the key feature of the Aston Martin marque.”
I think it's also important to note the comments that Marek Reichman, Executive Vice President of Aston Martin, shared about the re-brand too: “As we approach an exciting moment of product evolution, the design of the new wings was no different. Every millimetre of each line - of each shape within the new wings, are drawn forward from the depths of our 109-year Aston Martin creative wellspring.
What would you say to leaders who might be nervous of a re-brand?
Evaluate the opportunity and risk of not staying relevant, meaningful and connected to the changing marketplace. Determine what precisely needs refreshing and redirecting (logo? name? look and feel? purpose and mission?) and be transparent and authentic in the way you explain the new direction. As Seth Godin, entrepreneur and best-selling author, said: "People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic." So ask yourself if your brand currently sells a differentiated relationship with audiences, with a clear, compelling story, and full of magic that only your company can conjure?
What is a single artistic element you most love about your own re-brand?
The mint. It’s our signature colour and, also, happens to be my favourite colour! It will always be in our LMH colour palette.
Read Jemma Lester's Out of Office interview here.
Find out more about LMH at luxurymarketinghouse.com
