Mia Fileman 0:05
This is Got Marketing? – a podcast with ideas, strategies, and tactics to help small businesses create smarter marketing. I’m Mia Fileman, a professional marketer, and the founder of Campaign del Mar. In this show, I chat with creatives and strategists about the different aspects of marketing, but without the fluff. Let’s dive in!
Hi friends! Welcome back to the Got Marketing? Podcast.
Earlier this year, I rebranded my business. Like many start-ups riding the COVID storm, my former business – Idiello – had many iterations over its three-year history, but after transitioning to become a sole director with a fresh vision for the future, rebranding was an opportunity to set the record straight about what I now offer.
In today’s episode, I want to take you through my rebrand journey and offer some advice around what you should and perhaps shouldn’t do. Before you spend your time thinking about your new logo and putting the champagne on ice, here is what you need to do nail your rebrand and capitalise on your launch.
For the chat today, I’ve actually asked the brilliant creative designer who helped me bring the Campaign Del Mar branding to life. That is none other than Rachellee Saevil. Rachellee is the founder and creative director of Saevil Row. They are a bespoke branding and web design agency based in Sydney with an international roster of clients.
Welcome, Rachellee!
Rachelle Saevil 1:40
Thank you so much for having me! I am so thrilled to be here today.
Mia Fileman 1:45
Yay! I am so glad that you said yes because I really feel that we had such a great partnership going through this rebrand together.
Rachelle Saevil 1:55
Well, it would be rude if you didn’t have me on this episode considering we worked together – like you said – so closely on this and had such a great time. My favourite part of the whole branding process anyway is always – from start to finish – having that initial chat and those ideas and then seeing where we end up at the time. Yours was obviously just so magical. I’m thrilled to chat all things branding today.
Mia Fileman 2:21
Yes, I think it goes without saying that I love my brand more each day. I have really appreciated it even more now that I use it and just how much thought and love went into it. Those brand style guide guidelines that you provided me were next level – absolutely next level.
Rachelle Saevil 2:43
So glad. When you said that you hadn’t seen anything like that, I think, “What else do other people get?”
Mia Fileman 2:53
Oh, my gosh. You would be so surprised. Obviously, I’ve worked for some really big brands, and I’ve worked with agencies that we’ve spent $200,000 with to create a tiny modification to the Vegemite logo and have not received anything on the quality that I got from you.
Rachelle Saevil 3:15
Amazing. Well, that’s so great to hear. Thank you for sharing that!
Mia Fileman 3:18
Pleasure.
Before we get too stuck into our chat, I would love for you to share a little bit about your story because it’s a really fascinating one. One of the things that I love about our relationship is that we both lived in Paris for a few years. Can you tell us a little bit more?
Rachelle Saevil 3:35
Yeah, I love that we share that in common as well. Gosh. It’s taking me back to 2015.
I grew up in Canada. I am not Australian. I do try and pretend I have an accent sometimes, but it doesn’t always work for me. I grew up in Canada. In 2015, it was a little bit longer than a quarterlife crisis. I felt the need to pick up and go. I just wasn’t happy with where I was in life, I guess, you could say.
I bought a one-way ticket to Paris, as you do. “Could you not have just taken a long vacation or something, Rachellee?” No, from one extreme to the other. I bought a one-way ticket to Paris, and I moved. I literally left my life in Toronto, just packed up, and went. That was the start of really this next phase of my life. You know, when I moved, I didn’t have an apartment. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have any friends. I literally just got a visa and went.
The incredible thing is, I think, once you are so wholeheartedly into something and really back yourself, it’s incredible what can actually come out of that. I really felt that to be true for me. You know, I went in with absolutely no expectation which to my advantage really worked for me because I just went in with such an open mind and an open heart to just being like, “Well, let’s see what happens!”
You know, that first year was really trial and error – just living on croissants and cruising around the city. It wasn’t until that second year where I really had the space to really think about what I wanted that next phase to be and what I wanted to do with my life. That’s where I had the space to create Saevil Row. I have been a designer through and through. That’s what I went to school for. It’s not like I just decided I wanted to do that. I was lucky in that instance that I already had that behind me, and I already freelanced as well.
It was a fairly natural step for me to step into creating my own agency. You know, I feel like the rest is history from there. I already spoke French – French immersion, actually. Fun fact about me. Ever since I was six, I spoke French. That really played an advantage for me. I grew up speaking French at school until I was in Year 12. That was a really good fallback – to be able to move to a completely different country, speak the language, and get around. That’s the Coles Notes of my long story, but one that really changed the trajectory of my life, I would say – that one big bold decision.
Mia Fileman 6:11
We’re both Emily in Paris.
Rachelle Saevil 6:13
Exactly! You a bit more so because you were on the brand side. Weren’t you working over there? Yeah, what you see in that show really in a way was depictive of both of our lives over there. I loved it.
Mia Fileman 6:28
Except I didn’t have anywhere near as much money as she seemed to have to slosh around.
Rachelle Saevil 6:32
Oh, my gosh. Me neither! I couldn’t even really travel. I was just trying to save my pennies and get by. I didn’t have the designer budget. That’s for sure.
Mia Fileman 6:42
Yeah, and you certainly cannot walk around Paris in those shoes.
Rachelle Saevil 6:46
No.
Mia Fileman 6:47
It’s an old city with really cobbled roads. There’s dog shit everywhere.
Rachelle Saevil 6:54
Exactly.
Mia Fileman 6:55
What brought you to Australia? How did you end up here?
Rachelle Saevil 6:59
Well, there’s actually so many Australians in Paris – funny enough. I had met a few Australians that gave me that connection to come here. I was only ever going to come for a year max. That’s all. As you have it, I’m wearing a really nice sparkly diamond ring on my left hand, so I’m stuck here for a little while, but I met my fiancé here. I’ve been here almost six years. I cannot even believe that time has passed that long to just be from here, there, and everywhere. Yeah, originally, just some Australians brought me here, and then an Australian kept me here.
Mia Fileman 7:37
Aww. The Aussie blokes!
Rachelle Saevil 7:39
Yeah.
Mia Fileman 7:40
How do you resist their charms? I’m married to an Aussie bloke.
That’s amazing. Such a great story. Thank you for sharing.
Rachelle Saevil 7:47
Yeah, thank you.
Mia Fileman 7:49
You work with clients like me to help them bring their brands to life – whether that’s a new brand or a rebrand. What I’d really like to understand from you is what would you ideally like clients to have in place before reaching out to you?
Rachelle Saevil 8:08
That’s a great question because that’s something that we really rushed. Like you said at the beginning, before you put your logo, you’re all excited to celebrate and put the champagne on ice, there’s so much behind the scenes that need to happen before you get to that point. That’s always our end goal of this nice, shiny product.
But before we even get started, what’s really, really helpful if you’re especially bringing someone else on to help visualise your vision is getting really clear on what that is and really understanding what you want to achieve as that visionary behind the brand and how you want to people when they engage with your brand.
I think that’s really important because branding is so much more than the visuals. It’s really about how we make people feel and really having that emotional connection that goes beyond the surface. That’s what’s going to ultimately convert when you’re in your marketing phase of things. It’s really, really important to get crystal clear on that vision that you want, and just clear on that identity, and what those values are for you and understanding that as if it were a person.
You’re like, “I know my best friend through and through. Therefore, I want my brand to be like XYZ.” You have that personality associated to it and you can already start to bring that brand to life because you can relate it to a person. I think that’s one of the easiest ways to do that because, you know, it’s one thing when all these ideas are in our heads to actually put that down on paper and to start making that into something tangible, but you can then express to someone what you’re thinking. That’s the ultimate.
Mia Fileman 9:43
Absolutely.
Before the mood board, before you go Pinterest-happy, you’ve got to do the brand strategy work. Exactly like you said, this is about your vision and your mission and your purpose and your brand personality.
From a marketer’s perspective, a really simple way to do this is to really nut out who you want to target.
“Who is this brand intended for?” We seem to value the opinion of people who don’t represent our target audience. We ask our mother, our cousin, and our sister’s brother’s aunts what they think of our logos, and they are never going to purchase from us. Really coming up with a brand that represents what the ideal audience wants to see is really, really important.
“What do we want to be known for?” It is such a saturated market out there now in terms of digital and social channels. I read a study that said that there were 430,000 new brands started in Australia in the last 12 months. We need to find a way to stand out. You can’t just expect that the designer is going to just do all of that for you. There has to be something underneath the design that makes you unique and that gives you that really clear positioning so that the designer has something to work with. That’s the second thing.
“How do you want to achieve that? How do you plan to go about targeting those people? How do you plan to go about being known for something?” That’s really important to communicate that to your branding studio so that they’re really clear on the entire strategy before they mock up a single logo.
Rachelle Saevil 11:32
Yeah, you have totally nailed that.
I think the biggest thing too when you’re looking at this is so much pressure and emphasis is put on the designer for that end product that we sometimes forget to take a step back and realise so much of that beginning work needs to come from the business owner because no one can paint that vision for you. No one can tell you what your values are. You know what those are.
The clearer that you can get around the brand, the clearer and more successful the entire process will be. I’ve seen that firsthand from people who are really clear on their vision to people who need a lot more assistance. It’s usually a little bit cloudy from them versus someone who’s really, really clear.
Mia Fileman 12:11
Yeah, we’ve all had clients like that. “I don’t know what I do like, but I know what I don’t like.”
Rachelle Saevil 12:18
Yeah. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Mia Fileman 12:20
It’s very helpful.
I think that the real skill here is to zero in. You know, strategy is about choices. It’s my favourite saying in the whole world. We can’t be all things to all people. I think it is easy to be all things to all people. The real talent is to be able to trim the fat and zero in on exactly who it is that you are serving.
Rachelle Saevil 12:50
Yeah, less is more.
Mia Fileman 12:53
I love your comment about the brief. Excuse my French, but “shit in, shit out” when you don’t properly brief your third-party suppliers.
Fun fact: I realised that I was going to be rebranding on the 23rd of December 2020. That was a little bit devastating. That was when it was clear that my business partnership had come to an end and that I was going to transition away from Idiello. I was on holidays at the time which was good. However, it did spur me into action.
I spent – no joke – a good week and several hours of that week pulling together the brief that I sent to you to really do that work that was going to make sure that we got the best result. I’m so happy to say that it was the absolute best result.
Rachelle Saevil 13:53
It was the best brief, I think, too. Let’s give that credit as well because it was so well thought out.
You’re so right. When you’re not willing to put the time into actually fully articulating and expressing what you want, how do you expect someone to pull that out without that? You know, we’re not mind readers. I think that sometimes people are like, “Oh. You’re the expert.” It’s like, “Yeah, we’re totally the experts, but we do need something else to go off of – not just ‘let us whip this up for you!’”
Mia Fileman 14:17
Totally.
Can you provide any insight or advice on how business owners should go about appointing a designer? Because this was an interesting part of my process. I reached out to you and two other designers. I found it really interesting going through that process in terms of what the customer experience looked like. I had an exceptional experience with you. You were really responsive and really professional, and I felt really confident by the time that I engaged you.
But I also had some not-so-great experiences where we had a 30-minute chat with a designer. Then, next minute, it was like, “All right. Here is an invoice for $7,000. The next step is you pay that.” I’m like, “I don’t think I’m quite ready!”
I’m keen to know what you think is reasonable to expect or reasonable to ask from your potential brand designer because this is a big decision, right?
Rachelle Saevil 15:22
It’s a big decision and it’s a big investment as well.
Like you said, you need to be – as the customer – feeling really taken care of, that this person not only is going to get you the results that you ultimately want and that they want for you as well, but that your investment is going to have that return for your business. Let’s not forget about that because, I think, again, as a business owner especially, that comes second to me in my mind. You know, I want to make sure that we have the best experience and customer experience before we even onboard someone and make sure that they feel really taken care of.
For me, I guess it also depends. Everyone’s going to be a bit different. That’s not my first value. I’m more about the customer experience than I am about the “here, sign the contact and pay us.” You know, when you’re thinking about bringing someone else on, what you did is so great – going out and sourcing out the different quotes. What’s that different experience going to be like? Don’t necessarily go for the first person unless you are dead set on them. Maybe you’d already been following them online for a while and you already know what they’re like.
It just gives you the insight as the consumer to understand (a) what the market is out there and what they’re saying and doing, but (b) also understanding that you are interviewing someone for the job, essentially. I think that’s the biggest thing. Again, when we’re talking about someone’s investment, we don’t take that lightly. We understand what it’s like to be a small business and putting that out there as well. Making sure that your decision is really well thought out with the person you’re going with is really important.
You get to see how they engage and interact. Like you said, what is that customer experience like from that provider? It gives you a full scope. You know, more doesn’t necessarily mean more. If someone’s hired, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to get a better experience. I think that’s one thing people get so caught up on. That’s why you buy a Gucci bag over a Zara bag. What does that experience do for you? That’s probably a better quality because the Zara bag might not be full leather, but you get what I’m saying. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be a better result for you.
Getting recommendations from other trusted sources who might have done something similar to you before and getting their opinion on who they have worked with and crowdsourcing that way is a really good option as well, but really going in there, don’t settle on that first one. Go through and do what feels right to you because you’re going to understand. “Oh. I really liked Choice B. They felt really good and aligned with me. I feel confident going with them and I know that this is going to be a great relationship.”
I’m a true believer that how you do one thing is how you do everything. If you are getting really delayed responses from someone, it’s likely that that’s how the experience is going to be. You just need to know how you want to be treated in that situation and find someone who can be aligned to you with that.
Mia Fileman 18:21
Absolutely spot on, especially the comment about how just because you pay more, you think you’re going to get a better experience. That was not my experience with it.
What I really loved about what you said was that it really is about you interviewing them. It’s okay for you to say, “I actually don’t have enough from you in order to be able to make this decision. Can you help me make this decision? What else can you give me to make me feel really confident?” In which case, you can say, “Well, check out our Google Reviews. Have a look at a case study of a project that we did in a similar industry to yours so that you can get a feel for that.” It’s totally okay for you to say, “I actually need more.”
I think one of the biggest challenges when it comes to any kind of briefing of third-party suppliers that I hear every day is, “Well, I don’t know how much these things cost. I can’t set a budget because I don’t know how much these things cost.” Well, get a quote! Get several quotes so that you can understand that there is a huge spectrum. You know, you can find someone that will do a logo for you for $600 and you will find – and I have worked with – brands where we have paid $600,000 and everything in-between. That’s the first learning.
Exactly as you said – go on to Instagram, follow the hashtag #brandingdesigner or #brandingstudio, and just let your feed inspire you. Then, reach out to the designers that you have saved the most of their posts and go, “Oh, I love this! I love this! I love this!” and get a few different quotes so that you can get a read of what is a reasonable price and what you are prepared to spend.
For me, I was also changing the name of my company, so every single document needed to change. There was a lot of legal stuff that I had to change. You know, if you’re just doing a rebrand and you’re just updating your visual identity, then you may not need to change every single document. You could just do a phased approach where you’re just like, “When I run out of business cards, I’ll just replace them.” That was not my reality.
From one day to the next, I had a completely new company name. For me, what was really important was the professionalism. I actually put that above other things. You know, I wasn’t willing to compromise on that at all because I knew that I needed you and Saevil Row to really take care of all of that for me so that I could focus on the other areas of the business.
You need to think about what’s important to you and I don’t think you should ever forego professionalism, actually, because it’s just such a pain in the ass! I have heard horror stories – and not just with designers but with marketers and with graphic designers – where the client is chasing the service provider for the work. It’s like, “Well, where is this?” I have to say, I’ve worked with many, many branding studios in my 20-year career. Saevil Row hit every deadline. Every milestone that you said you would have this by then, you hit it, and I just love that. I love it!
Rachelle Saevil 22:04
Thank you! That’s such a high value for us because, like I said, customer experience is number one.
I personally get anxiety is something is blown out where like, “Oh, no! We have to meet this deadline!” You know, it’s very, very, very important to me and the entire team that we hit those deadlines because that’s how we would want to be treated. You know?
Mia Fileman 22:22
Yes!
Rachelle Saevil 22:23
Treat people how you want to be treated. I want people to do business with us because they trust us and they rely on us and they know that we deliver on those exact things.
Mia Fileman 22:30
So good!
Let’s talk about naming because some people are in the same boat as me and needed to come up with a completely new name for their business. In your opinion, what makes for a good name? Do you have any places that you go to for inspiration?
Rachelle Saevil 22:55
What makes a good name is something that is memorable and easy to say, easy to pronounce, easy to write. I know that that was one thing with you as well – even with Idiello. It’s like, “Oh, you mentioned that on the phone, and you have to spell it out because someone doesn’t know what that is right away.”
Again, in today’s fast society, we want to make sure that what we’re saying resonates with people, so having something that’s really sharp and just really quick does the trick most of the time. getting really clever as well with the name.
There’s nothing wrong with going with your personal name – like, your namesake, if that’s something that aligns with your business – but, if you’re coming up with a completely different name, it can be tough. There are so many names out there – not enough names! There are all the things because not only are you coming up with a name. You all of a sudden have to register it and check that no one else has anything similar in your industry or area then you have to try and find a URL.
It’s a lot to consider. Before you get too caught up on a name, you have to do your background check on what that is. I always like to say, if you’re really struggling for a name, I do a word bank. I would start to write down words that come up that are related to the brand or related to the feeling that you want people to feel related to the subject matter and start mind mapping things and being like, “Is there something here that we can pull out?”
Again, if you’ve already gone in and done a bit of your own brand strategy in terms of really nailing out your vision and your values and your mission, you might be able to pull something out from that that could really then resonate as a name. Otherwise, it’s about getting creative, trying to roll up the sleeves.
I like to try and look at other industries that are not competing at all because you can’t have anything similar as someone in your industry and just try to see what they’ve come up with. I just word play. If you are doing something that was a health and wellness brand, look at the colour green. What is the colour green in the French language or in Spanish? Could we play on that? Looking at clever words. The green word – how did that originate? It’s kind of going back into this little deep rabbit hole of trying to find the source of something that just sticks.
For me, I was very lucky because Saevil was my last name, so I couldn’t really mess that one up. It’s inspired by the London tailoring district, Savile Row. It’s spelt differently, but it’s a play on words. For me, it was very catchy and unique because no one has that name and it was a fun play on words for me, so it worked out really well.
If you are definitely struggling, I would say make sure you do your work of mind mapping. Also, in your browser, having GoDaddy and a register in your browser just to make sure no one has those names.
Mia Fileman 25:49
Yes!
Rachelle Saevil 25:49
What do you think? I know you’ve been in this kind of realm. How did you even come up with Idiello and what’s your experience with naming?
Mia Fileman 25:56
Yeah, I’m really good at coming up with brand names for other people – not so much for myself. That really speaks to the truth around the fact that we can’t be objective about our own marketing. In fact, that’s the entire premise of my business.
But I do have a five-step framework that I use to come up with brand names for my clients.
Step one is to outline your non-negotiables. What are the things that your name absolutely must have? For example, it must include the word “digital,” or it must be easy to spell which was the case for me.
Number two – we fill our buckets. Let me explain what this means. I think that there are really four directions that you can take a brand name. Either the name relates to your product or service, the benefit that you offer, your personality or your brand personality, and your edge – your point of difference.
What I like to do is to take a blank sheet of paper or a blank Google Doc and create a four-quadrant table. Each of those four quadrants represents one of those buckets – product or service, benefit, personality, or edge. Then we start to fill those buckets with as many words as we can think of that apply to that category – all the words that you can think of that relate to your product and service, all the words that you can think of that relate to your benefit, and so on.
Step three is, once you’ve exhausted your brainpower for every word that you can think of that fits into those buckets, turn to external sources for research and inspiration – whether that’s social media, whether that’s cookbooks, TV series, a great thesaurus like Power Thesaurus, or foreign cultures – and just keep filling those buckets.
Step four, as you mentioned, Rachelle, is where we do some wordplay. Start mixing and matching your buckets until lightning strikes. The reality is now, in Australia, that it’s very unlikely that you will have a one-word brand name unless it’s a made-up word. That’s because so many different names are already registered. We have one business registry in Australia. That covers all businesses and all corporate trusts. Finding even the word “banana” is probably registered. More realistically, you’re going to probably need a two-word or more brand name which is where this wordplay really comes into play.
Step five is the availability check. Before you get too excited, check that your business name is available in the national business name registry or trademark database. You should also jump on a domain registry or a site like namechecker.com to ensure availability for the domain and also the social media handles.
My last piece of advice is that coming up with a brand name is not like picking a name for your child or for your pets. It’s probably not going to be something that you instantly love and say, “This is the perfect name!” That’s just because there are just so many names that are already taken.
Manage your expectations and expect to compromise. Also, it takes time for us to fall in love with those names.
Rachelle Saevil 29:56
Yeah, big time.
Mia Fileman 29:58
I didn’t know at the time that Campaign Del Mar was the perfect name, but now I certainly do.
Rachelle Saevil 30:04
I love it.
Mia Fileman 30:05
Got Marketing? is brought to you by Campaign Del Mar – a marketing education platform for entrepreneurs. Master the fundamentals of marketing, nail your email marketing strategy, or join my signature program – “Campaign Classroom” – and learn how to create killer marketing campaigns.
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You work with clients all over the world. What do you think makes for a great working relationship with your clients?
Rachelle Saevil 30:55
Well, if you haven’t already figured out now, I’m really big on customer experience and customer service. For me, communication is number one, but what I do – and I feel like I do this really, really well – are those touchpoints throughout the way. We’re always trying to think of how we can make our experience really personal and something that’s like a surprise and delight. That’s’ really, really important to us – that whole client experience.
What makes for a really great relationship – whether you are working interstate, overseas, you know, all of the above – is communication and being as personable and as mindful as possible. Everyone is busy and I think the beautiful thing especially about our business is it’s been remote from day one. Pre-quarantine and COVID and all of the things, we’ve always had a remote business. We’ve always worked with international clients.
Again, the number one thing has always been being available to them in times that suit them. Oftentimes, I’m the one taking 6:00 AM calls or 7:00 AM calls. For my team, 7:00 AM is a bit too early for them. 8:00 AM they can do, but I’m still the one that will take those really early calls to be accommodating to them. I’m not coming and saying, “We’re in Australia, so you have to work in our timing.” I really am accommodating to them and will put up those really early timeslots.
Again, that’s what’s important to me to make sure that they are taken care of throughout this process, and then communication and delivering on what you say you’re going to do. If you said to someone that is really close to me saying, “What is Rachelle’s core value?” every single one of them would tell you, “Integrity.” For me, there’s a hard stop. That is a red flag for someone who doesn’t do what they say they’re going to do.
For me, I deliver on that every time because that is literally my number one core value.
Mia Fileman 32:47
That is so apparent as well – having worked with you. That is exactly what I would have said to describe you. Can we just chat for a minute about contracts? Because I feel like, as service providers, we’re like, “Well, we need a contract, and we need to just quickly get that signed,” and that’s a formality, but how important is it to take your client through that contract and make sure that they understand what it is that they’re getting and not getting and how it’s going to work?
This is a little shoutout to Verity from Checklist Legal who has completely reimagined the service provider contract from something that is just really tick a box, get your contract done, have it all in legalese, and no one reads it, and it’s 16 pages long, and the client is like, “Sure, whatever.” Done. She has created contracts that are in the tone of voice of the brand and that are very visual so that the brand and the service provider can just be on the same page from the get-go so that there are no surprises.
I think that we rush through that step. I know I have in the past. Now, I literally sit with my clients, and I actually walk them through the contract and say, “This is where you have to do this bit. I’m going to do this bit, but you need to do this bit. Are you cool with that? That’s great – just so that we’re clear from now.”
Rachelle Saevil 34:17
You know, that is such a great point because so much of a business transaction we sometimes expect for granted. They said they’re going to sign with us, so here’s the contract, and here’s the invoice. Let’s just get it done. But there is so much in that nurturing still of that contract and legal component of making someone feel comfortable with signing over thousands of dollars.
That’s such a great point because there are still things that clients need to do in order to get the results. Again, it’s not just a one-way show here. Both of you have deliverables that you need to do and commit to. That’s really important. Communication and being super transparent gets you the best results because you know what to expect and you know what is expected of you as well – as the customer, as the service provider.
Contracts are so important. I have to say, in the past, I had a really, really legal one. Then I had a casual one. Then I had one in-between. Even the one in-between, I’m not loving. It pains me because I paid so much for that, but I want to make sure that people understand this and that they are not asking me questions afterwards.
You’re right. Being really clear and upfront with what that is because, again, how you set the tone is going to really be a mirror for how the experience is going to go. Being really transparent and upfront and making sure that everyone understands what the deliverables are and all of those things and what they’re getting in the end is really important.
Mia Fileman 35:46
Yeah, I think hope and assumptions are a really terrible business strategy. Going in there with “of course, they were going to provide Canva templates for us!” Well, is that an assumption?
Rachelle Saevil 36:02
Yeah, a big assumption.
You know, what’s so interesting about that is – and I guess this is my belief of doing what we do of branding – I want to make sure that our clients have everything they need after engaging with us – not that they’re coming back being like, “Where are the Canva templates? Where is this? Where is that?” It’s like, “Oh, it wasn’t included in the package.”
We designed our packages so that it’s literally like all the things that you would need whereas I know some people who charge a bomb for just branding and don’t include any of that stuff. I feel like that’s a bit deceiving because you get this beautiful brand and then what?
Mia Fileman 36:39
Yes, you can’t use it.
Rachelle Saevil 36:40
You have the brand to yourself to do all these things, you know.
Mia Fileman 36:43
You can’t use that.
Also, I have come across a few designers lately who flatly refuse to provide Canva templates. It’s like, “I’m sorry. We’re too good for Canva. We do everything.”
Rachelle Saevil 36:54
No one’s too good for Canva. I wish I came up with Canva. I will bow down to them. They are brilliant.
You know what that does? It gives the business owners an opportunity to own their marketing and own their brand post-branding. If anyone is rebranding and the designer is going to tell you they’re not going to give you the Canva templates, don’t hire them because you need that.
Mia Fileman 37:14
Correct.
For me, personally, nothing that I offer to my clients anymore is done for you. It’s all done with you. I will not write your email sequence. I will not launch your campaign for you. There are parts that I will do, and then there are parts that you need to do. It’s really important that I have that contract or that discussion upfront so that they know because my business model is different.
Most marketers, you outsource to, and they will do it all for you whereas I’m a marketing education platform. I actually teach you how to do it. It’s really clear that people who work with me know that from the outset – that I’m actually not here to do that work for you.
Don’t just jump through that step, I would say.
Rachelle Saevil 38:05
Definitely.
Mia Fileman 38:08
I think – and I know that you agree – that it is a missed opportunity to just flesh up your new brand one day to the next, without any fanfare, and just be like, “Hey! I rebranded! I think it is a cause for a really exciting campaign around that.”
Why do you think rebrands are so interesting to other people?
Rachelle Saevil 38:35
Mia didn’t pay me to say this. I’m just going to put that out there.
Her rebrand launch was the best I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Why? Because she got everyone involved from the very beginning of not only why she was rebranding but what this brand meant to her and where all of these sources of inspiration came from. You know, you mentioned earlier the Côte d'Azur and your background and the islands and the tropicalness and all of these things.
You brought people along on the journey, behind the scenes of the brand, and then – boom! – here’s the brand, but you did that over – was it a week? Because I think you had nine posts and then you had the rebrand.
Mia Fileman 39:16
Yeah.
Rachelle Saevil 39:17
That was so clever because the reason why people are so interested is the same reason why people watch The Kardashians. They are nosy, they want to know what’s going on in someone else’s life behind the scenes, and they want to be entertained. They’re not necessarily always in it to just learn, learn, learn.
Being able to bring them along the journey allows you to open up the doors of what’s happening behind the scenes and allows you to connect on a deeper level with your potential customers and consumers.
Getting them involved in your rebrand and being like, “Here is what we’ve been working on. We’re sharing you these behind the scenes and the drafts,” and the this and the that gets them excited for what’s ahead for you. They’re even more involved in your rebrand than just one day being like, “Oh, surprise! We rebranded!” How anticlimactic is that? That’s not fun or exciting.
Mia Fileman 40:04
I agree.
We know that behind-the-scenes content performs so well for exactly that reason – voyeurism. It’s a real thing! There’s nothing more behind-the-scenes than a rebrand taking a shape and a transformation happening. Also, people have opinions about what it’s going to look like, and they can’t wait to see it to go, “Oh! That’s better than I thought!” or “Oh, that’s not as good as I thought.” They’re interested, but the same way that brand storytelling works with words, rebrands work with images where you’re taking them on that journey of why this brand is.
But the other reason why you should do it is also so that you don’t lose anyone along the way. We completely changed the name. We changed the Instagram handle. We changed the colour palette, the iconography, the illustrations – all of it changed. You don’t want people to go log to Instagram and go, “Where the freakin’ heck is Idiello? Who is this chick?”
Part of the reason that I did what I did was to get people accustomed to that colour palette, to the tone of voice. I completely changed the tone of voice between Idiello and Campaign Del Mar so that it didn’t jar with them. I have to say that I did not feel like I lost a beat going from Idiello to Campaign Del Mar. There wasn’t a single person that was like, “I can’t seem to find you.”
I spent just as much time planning the relaunch as I did the actual brand experience. I engaged an absolute tech whiz in Singapore to handle the flip, redirection of my website, and changed over my emails. I decided to do it big. Go big or go home! I didn’t drip-feed it. It was literally from one day to the other, I was Idiello to Campaign Del Mar. I changed everything. I had a checklist – literally within an hour – where the URL changed, all the social media handles changed. I put the post on Instagram. I sent the EDM. It was just like bang! It was like a party. “Here we go! It’s happening!”
I thought that that was really important – to try to bring as much of my audience with me so that it didn’t seem like they were in the wrong place. “Hang on. What is this? Who is this?”
Rachelle Saevil 42:46
Yeah, it was a party, and everyone was invited. I think that was the best part. You had these consumers and a loyal following who followed you for a reason. You’re still bringing them along the way – being like, “Hey! It’s still the old me. I just have a new brand. Here is what it looks like.” Bringing them along that journey does really, really well for businesses who do that because it just again builds that deeper connection with the consumers.
Mia Fileman 43:10
Yes, absolutely.
I just think that it’s an opportunity for you to reintroduce your brand to your people. When you’re an existing brand, it’s hard to go, “Hey! Can we just take a minute? I’ll just run you through once again exactly what it is that we do and who we are.”
A rebrand is that line in the sand where you can say, “This is a great opportunity where I can share with you exactly what we do around here.” I loved the experience from start to finish with you.
Rachelle Saevil 43:44
Oh. I’m sorry. You also had your own theme song made!
Mia Fileman 43:47
I did.
Rachelle Saevil 43:48
That was just clever.
Again, it’s thinking of those touchpoints. I’m so big on brand experience. Not only was it the Instagram and the emails and all these things. You’re like, “Let me just put together this playlist and put it on Spotify.” You can also imagine you’re in a place called Campaign Del Mar. It’s very clever, I think.
The more you can think outside the box for a launch, the better well received it will be. Again, bringing people along that journey.
Mia Fileman 44:15
Totally.
Think about sonic branding. Now, we’re doing podcasts, we’re doing all this video marketing. Reels can have a track. Why not be your original track or a track that is synonymous with your brand? Let’s not just appeal to one of the senses. Let’s appeal to all of the senses.
That was the sonic branding. The Campaign Del Mar original track was such a good investment. I paid a Newcastle musician who hadn’t worked – because of COVID – for many, many months. I paid him $1,000 to compose an original song which is a little bit Mad Men; a little bit Disney; a little bit Greek Mediterranean; Buddha Bar, Café del Mar. It is so me and so Campaign Del Mar. I think that, even on a subliminal level, is going to appeal to people. It’s going to penetrate.
Rachelle Saevil 45:19
Without a doubt. Definitely.
Mia Fileman 45:21
Well, that has been such a juicy conversation. Thank you so, so much, Rachelle!
How can people get in touch? I could not recommend Rachelle and her team enough if you really want to put your best foot forward for your branding or for your rebrand.
Rachelle Saevil 45:38
Thank you! This has been such a great chat. I love all things branding.
You can find me over on Instagram. That’s where I hang out. It’s @saevilrow. Our website is saevilrow.co.
Mia Fileman 45:48
Fantastic! Well, I will put those links in the show notes. Thank you so, so much for your time!
Rachelle Saevil 45:54
Thank you so much! Thank you! Thank you!
Mia Fileman 46:00
Thank you!
You listened right up until the end, so why not press that subscribe button and keep the good marketing rolling? You can also connect with me, Mia Fileman, on Instagram or LinkedIn. Feel free to send me a message! I’m super friendly.
