Brand Strategy

Before any execution took place I needed to do the thinking, i.e. create a roadmap for what I’m doing for Blacksmith Grill, and why. So I led the Blacksmith Grill team through brand strategy to figure out key details about their business.

Purpose, Vision, Mission, Goals

It’s important to understand that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. For this reason I worked with Blacksmith Grill to define their purpose, vision, mission, and business goals. 

Purpose: We exist to be a safe refuge for families & friends to experience great community while enjoying amazing food!

Vision: To create a well-known and long-lasting brand with a positive reputation in the Boerne, Texas community.

Mission: Blacksmith Grill delivers tasty food and a welcoming atmosphere for families and friends to return to.

Brand Personality

Successful brands are well-known and successful because they behave like people, and people have personality. Personality helps brands like Blacksmith Grill to be consistent when interacting with customers, and potential customers. 

I worked with Blacksmith Grill to define their visible, and invisible traits. Once these traits were defined I worked with their team to understand where they were in terms of embodying the traits. 

It’s important to understand that these personality traits are what guide how your brand behaves, how it sounds, how it looks, and how it aims to make people feel. These attributes inform everything moving forward.

Target Audience & Research

In the early phases of brand strategy I helped Blacksmith Grill to define itself. Next I had to work to understand who the current customers are, and who their ideal customers are. 

I needed this information to research the ideal customer so that I could understand their needs, and to understand if their perception of Blacksmith Grill is the same as how Blacksmith Grill perceives itself.

Gap Analysis

Once I knew who the ideal Blacksmith Grill customer was, I sought out to find people who matched the description to conduct research via observations, interviews, and surveys.

Some examples of the things I learned: 

1. The menu is hard to read, and there’s no pricing.

2. No one came to my table to check on us after we got our food, I needed a refill.

3. I didn’t know this was family-owned.

The research is more extensive than what I can display here, but the point is what I used research to solve real problems affecting the business.

Now that I know why the brand exists, what its' personality is, who their ideal customers are (and their needs), I can use this information to inform all brand behavior in a way that is consistent with the brand, and appealing to the customer.

Identity Design

The next step was to bring all brand touchpoints in line with the brand. But first I had to resolve an issue with the logo.

The logo is usually the first identifying mark someone comes across as they’re interacting with your brand. So it’s a huge issue when a logo is not presented legibly, and professionally.

During my brand audit I found their logo was used inconsistently across all touch points. In some places the logo was one color, in another it was a different color. In some places it was skewed/contorted, etc. On social media, the profile image was an off-center screenshot of the logo itself.

To resolve these issues I worked with my design team to fully optimize the Blacksmith Grill identifying marks for many different use cases.

Main Logo

We optimized the main logo into different file formats to ensure the logo would be properly represented no matter where it is.

• The logo was prepared as PNG’s and SVG’s for digital use.

• The logo was prepared as PDF’s for print use.

• The logo was prepared as JPG for other misc. use.

• We also created variants of the main logo for use on dark or light backgrounds.

Lockups

I also worked with my design team to create lock-ups for Blacksmith Grill. These are used to present the brand to the public in a way that helps build recognition of the logo and logotype. 

Color Palette & Typography

I worked with my design team to define all brand colors and typography. This not only helps my team and I to maintain a high level of consistency with the Blacksmith Grill brand, but it also helps the Blacksmith Grill team to stay consistent in my absence.

Identity Guidelines

I provided identity guidelines to the Blacksmith Grill team so they can stay true to their look even if I’m not the one working on their brand. 

Social Media

I produced high-end photo and video to display the culture and food of Blacksmith Grill for the purpose of sharing this content on social media. I leveraged my skill, creativity, and knowledge of strategy to build a community around the Blacksmith Grill brand.

Website

I created a website that was consistent with Blacksmith Grill's brand personality that also solved the needs of users. The website features a clean design, pristine photography, a way for customers to learn about Blacksmith Grill, and a design that leads customers to browse the menu and order online.

Email

I also manage a recurring weekly newsletter that updates the Blacksmith Grill customers about weekly events, such as specials, live music, and more.

Graphic Design

I worked with my design team to create key graphical brand touchpoints that are consistent with the Blacksmith Grill personality, and that also solve needs of customers. These graphics include digital menus, handheld menus, drink menus, and reward vouchers.

Digital Menu

Handheld Menu

Drink Menu