Strategy-Led, Design-Driven Branding with Steve Redmond of Rival Brands
Manage episode 355847218 series 2792654
All Good Food brands are made up of two integral parts: a mission and a vision.
Your mission as a Good Food brand is what sets you apart from the big players in the food industry. It’s what makes you unique. Your vision is how you see yourself as a brand and a player in the food industry in the future.
The challenge is this: how do we close the gap towards the vision while staying true to your mission as a Good Food brand? The answer should be easy—strategy. You create a company, create your product offering, sell it to as many people as possible—that feels like a strategy. But is it a sustainable tactic to grow your company?
Steve Redmond of Rival Brands believes that everything should be rooted in a fleshed-out strategy that is true to the core and message of the brand. His origin as a graphic designer makes him confident in saying that good branding doesn’t come from the design, packaging, logos, and all that—they all make a whole, and they’re all founded in a good strategy.
Virginia Foodie Essentials:
- I operate in the idea that a brand is simply an idea. And you create a product as the primary way to share that idea. - Steve Redmond
- That's the gist: there's a whole bunch of ideas that generally need to exist inside and outside of your business. And as the leader, you are likely the one that has to be t in command of what those ideas are. They all have to be in sync. - Steve Redmond
- Having a strategy in place means that a lot of the decisions that go into the packaging are no longer subjective. They're based on specific things that you're trying to communicate. - Steve Redmond
- Strategy sets the standard, the priorities, the messages, and it gives you the script. There are still a lot of ways it can manifest graphically, but at least, it allows you to come up with solutions that all meet the same criteria. - Steve Redmond
Key Points From This Episode:
- Steve Redmond started as a graphic designer and evolved to an art and creative director and then to launching his own business. Currently, he owns Rival Brands, and he’s been serving the food community for about two decades.
- He likes working and connecting with food brands that have a clear mission and are defying the trends and the structure already established in the food industry.
- More than leading a design-driven branding and packaging studio, the solutions that his company, Rival Brands, offers are not only through visuals but are founded and focused on strategy.
- In his speaking engagement at the Winter Fancy Food Show, “Your Revolution Needs to be Synchronized,” Steve talked about how a brand is just an “idea.”
More About the Guest:
Rival Brands is the culmination of the 25+ year career of Design Director and Designer, Steve Redmond. Steve is an award-winning designer and has had his work selected for publication in various design annuals such as Communication Arts, Print Regional Design Annual, and Graphic Design USA's Packaging Annual. He has worked for a variety of Vermont's specialty food producers as well as producers spanning the U.S.
Connect with Steve Redmond
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