Brand strategy: Why less is more

Image: Architectural Digest, Collection of David Mellor’s flatware and cutlery.

TOTEME’s Venezia silk scarf in crème.

Actions speak louder than words

It might have been the widespread use of video (think music videos and MTV) that changed the way brands and artists communicate. Music and art have always been a channel through which to state a truth, challenge the status quo and shake things up.

Yet with the advent of mass media, advertising and now social media, the temptation is to speak, about topics other than the brand, often without foundation. Social platforms also breed a stream of faux-worthiness and mindless chatter that can be off-putting- all too often adding fuel to many a fire in the name of making the world a better place. The irony is, far from contributing to peace and harmony, the opposite is achieved.

Such attempts at brand building can serve as a distraction from conveying the company’s core mission and truly creating a brand and product that is better, new and nourishing. To care is to create- to do things differently. This happens in earnest, day to day, and not as a sound bite. A good example of a brand that is  a  disrupter and  a deft communictor is Mother of Pearl.

The documentary film “Fashion Reimagined” charts the brand’s beginnings and ethos, and shows what is possible when founders are truly passionate about changing  an industry for the better. The clothes are of course beautifully made and designed and are as simple and minimalist, as they are fresh and future-focused. Kudos to Amy Powney on the success of the brand.

To inspire, brands might also use a feather light touch. TOTEME has communicated through seasonality, nature and love of a healthful life that is subtle, and very Swedish. An image of a flower here, a description of a herb there, is enough to breathe nourishing energy into the brand. Such approaches represent a gentler way of building a high quality company and brand, where the focus is on adding value to the lives of your audience.

When building a brand, perhaps think less in terms of talking and more in terms of conveying, less in terms of instructing and more of inspiring. This might be a better way to go- not to mention a less draining approach in terms of content creation. Above all: product, product, product.

Perhaps, you can go further and achieve more, be a better role model and leave a more beautiful legacy through what you don’t say. Some might say.

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© All rights reserved. Lifestyle Copywriters, Ltd., May, 2023.

Are you searching for a more powerful way to communicate who you are as a brand?

If so, the answer may lie in doing less- a lot less. Rather than trying to convince your audience of an endless array of factors, from product benefits and differentiators to your virtue, a subtler, indirect approach is often the most powerful and effective.

At a time when many brands believe they must create reams of content in order to demonstrate their worth, deftly handle every hot potato imaginable and otherwise have an answer for everything, it is worth considering that there is a simpler approach to brand building.

Brands can, and do, succeed by focusing on product excellence and letting their creations and shop front do most of the talking. We note the approach of a few brands that went off piste and focused squarely on quiet brand building via their business and mission.

Brand essence

For any business, the core offering and the motivation for providing the offering in the manner they do, is paramount.

A prime example is David Mellor. The company was established in 1969 by silversmith, maker and industrial designer, David Mellor. The company’s mission? to bring good design to everyday items. A clear, simple, yet far from easy to achieve aim. The execution of the mission is in the time consuming, painstaking attention to detail and sheer skill that goes into crafting the beautiful metal and ceramic pieces the company is renowned for.

In more than 50 years since inception, the company’s designer-maker mission has not changed. It is high end brand and does not pretend to be otherwise, yet it also serves as a role model in more ways than one.

Quality, innovation, durability and sustainability are key factors in the company’s success. It goes about its business of making superbly designed cutlery, flatware, and crockery, and runs three beautifully curated homeware shops throughout the UK. It is a design house that continues to excel in executing public and private commissions, including bespoke silverware and a wide variety of industrial design projects.

Under the considered and careful leadership of Corin Mellor, David’s son, the company has never wavered in its ability to continue in exactly the same vein.

The brand communicates through design, exacting standards, beautiful aesthetics and simplicity. There is no mistaking it. And, beyond this, there isn’t much to say. And that’s the point.   Its marketing communications and imagery simply accentuate and bolster the company’s core facets and work.

Brand demographic

Though times have changed and competition is fierce, certain brands have adopted the Mellor model by pitching themselves to the right audience, at the right time, and by improving upon the status quo.

Two companies in the fashion world spring to mind, one is The Row, founded by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen and the other is TOTEME, founded by Elin Kling. The brands each began life with a well designed t-shirt here and a graphic logo-printed silk scarf there.

Both brands’ minimal aesthetic is neither beige nor ubiquitous- they are unique and contemporary, exquisite and highly-prized. Consummate quality, durability and tailoring is what sets them apart, and they both portray themselves with zero fuss.

The Row communicates via the artists’ lens, and TOTEME through quintessential Scandinavian simplicity, coupled with powerful photography. Both brands hark of Phoebe Philo’s Céline- offering a purist, cashmere-ist, pared-down luxury wardrobe, that is so difficult to realise. Naturally, the brands price themselves accordingly, with The Row going one above on this score. The brands know who they are and cater to their select audience accordingly.

A glance at their Instagram accounts will tell you everything you need to know, without the need for extra bells and whistles. Visuals communicate their DNA. Take for example, The Row, which uses its Instagram account as a canvas for impeccably curated images of fine art and sculpture, to catch the eye and speak to the heart of any design-focused onlooker. Most effective.