Our project together will start with a kickoff meeting that we call Discovery. This is a time for knowledge sharing, questions and clarifying your brand positioning as a basis for moving forwards. It's interactive, open and a great way to set goals together.

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Purpose

Whether you are an established brand looking for a refresh or a new startup just setting out, the Discovery step is a way for us to dig into the challenge together to ensure that the brief is clear for our team. It's a way to finalise all of the specific project deliverables (usually discussed in the offer phase) to ensure that nothing has been missed and that we have the tools that we need to proceed. For new brands the role this step can be to properly define your positioning from scratch together, and provide you with a document that forms the basis of your brand guide internally. For more established brands it's a great step to refine, challenge or simply share your positioning with us.

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Process

Mostly commonly our Discovery process takes place over 4 core stages, however this can be adjusted depending on the scale of the overall project and your current stage as a company. Stages often include:

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1. Discovery template - we provide you with a blank template that covers all the core topics that we think are necessary based on your project. We deliver this as a Google Slides template, giving you time to fill in whatever you can. Items can be left blank, so that we can solve them together in the meeting, but we share this early so that you have time to reflect on each topic and also clarify what you have to help the process.
2. Discovery meeting - we host a meeting where we discuss all of the topics at length. This meeting can range from 2 to 6 hours depending on the requirements and can take place both in person and online. Some sections are interactive workshop pieces. In this meeting it is important to have key stakeholders and decision makers to ensure that any and all opinion is reflected in the outcome.
3. Discovery summary / Brand positioning - The next step is dependent on the stage that you are at as a company. Either way, during the meeting, whilst we're collaborating into the template together, our team are also taking additional notes to reflect on later. We will always review all of the meeting summary notes and add our perspective and expertise to refine whatever is discussed. For new brands this is the step where we will go away and develop your positioning. The results of this step are either shared in email or presented to you - depending on the amount of new input. We then give you time to review all of the document again internally and add your comments or questions.
4. Discovery finalisation - We will review and resolve any queries that you have to arrive at a final Discovery document that is a refined summary of your positioning and the project objectives. This step may require an additional round of review between us, especially if we are creating a positioning from scratch, but will get us to a point that is a shared understanding to inform all of our future creative decisions together.

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Topics

We adapt the topics according to the project requirements and your request. There is a minimum list that we like to include to ensure we have the tools we need to complete future design work but for new brands we can also include additional topics, such as elevator pitch or pillars, that can help you in other areas of your business. Topics can include:

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• Purpose
• Vision
• Mission
• Offer/services
• Value proposition
• USPs
• Values
• Culture
• Brand look
• Tone of voice
• Personality
• Audience personas
• Project challenges
• Project deliverables
• Technical requirements
• Inspiration
• Limitations
• KPIs
• Project Timeline

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Timings

The required time to complete the process can vary from 2 to 4 weeks in total. This includes time for your internal input, collection of information and feedback. As a guide we usually require 3-4 days to address feedback or add our input after a meeting.

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What comes next?

Depending on the project requirements, this Discovery process often leads into Brand Naming, Stylescapes or Logo Design.

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Would you like to know more?

We'd be more than happy to discuss your project needs and discuss the benefits of the Discovery process to help us achieve your goals together. Contact us via the form or set up an introduction call here >.

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About us

&Berlin is a full service creative agency that helps brands of all sizes achieve their goals. We guide you through a complete process and collaborate with you as partners.

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