What is Bespoke Branding and Why Can it Benefit Your Brand?

By Yosef Solomon on Aug 31, 2010

Bespoke is a British English term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer’s specification (via: Daymix). Why do I use it to define the type of branding I do? I believe in highly customized campaigns that integrate brand missions and perspectives. By sticking to the overall message of one’s brand, we are effectively demonstrating the true essence of that brand’s identity. This helps consumers identify and remember that brand’s products and services.

Apple is one of the leading brands in terms of positive consumer sentiment and approval. In every product they deliver, their message lies solely within. “Think Different” one of Apple’s slogans during the late 90′s that began the biggest comeback by any technology company ever. The Simplicity, innovation and genuinely unique brand marketing effort put forth by Apple at the time was bespoke in every sense of the word. In order for Apple to effectively recover, they need a campaign to highlight everything they are about and “Think Different” nicely encapsulated that. At the time, Steve Jobs made it clear that Apple would bounce back from their relative fall from grace years before and come back stronger than ever.

I decided to brand myself as a Bespoke Marketer for two reasons. One is because I enjoy rich engagement with the new and potential clients. It allows me to truly grasp the goals and objectives of the client. Its not enough to know what the product is and how it functions, but rather why the product was created and how it can change the market it’s in.

Before I begin working with clients I ask them to answer three key questions about their company/brand or product: Why it was created? How it works and What it will do? These three initial questions are the most important to me because they give me the foundation of what the company/brand or product wishes to deliver. This is the fist step in Bespoke Branding and truly enables the overall message to be integrated with the brand campaign.

As you go about your day, notice the different brands you interact with on a daily basis. Can you see their mission in every marketing push they execute. Do you experience a “good” feeling when you buy their brand? When the answer is yes, then those marketing campaigns were successful. It is what makes us choose the name brand over the generic. The reasons may not be clear initially, but they definitely do exist. Bespoke Branding is an essential method that creates these unique marketing efforts and should be utilized by every company.