Why PR and Marketing Are Design’s Natural Bedfellows

In the last year, one thing that was really cemented for us at Fox&Bear was our role, not only as branding experts and designers but as consultants.

In the days of old, designers just designed and made things to look good, but these days there is so much immersion in our clients’ vision, brands and ethos which we utterly love.

With the rise and consistent growth of digital, the link between design, branding, marketing and PR has never been more apparent, and we fully appreciate that by knowing this world and understanding clients’ marketing and PR expectations, this can be key to cementing their digital offer.

There is a marrying up of assets, look and feel demanded and expected from all brands and that their voice, tone, and image is concurrent throughout all touchpoints so that they evoke the same reaction and immersion from their audience on all platforms. When this is done well, it is extremely powerful and attracts a high level of engagement and loyalty from their followers.

Brands often approach us when they are looking for a change in direction or perhaps want to appeal to a different audience to convey an alternative message. We ensure that we go through their ideal journey with them starting with their new look and message and ask how they are going to tell the people they want to about it. More often than not, their tried and tested marketing techniques haven’t been thought to be altered which can be where they become unstuck as their new look and messaging isn’t appealing to their same audience and they haven’t built a plan to communicate to their desired one.

The power of marketing is strong, and by doing this thinking before we have designed anything is imperative to their success we find. If together we have a clear structure of how the shifts are going to happen with a marketing strategy in place that is aligned with this, then great things can happen.

As designers, there is an onus on us to ensure we fully understand the marketing world and what trends and appetites there are out there for our client in that moment and ensure our design thinking is in line with that. For example, authenticity is the number one demand from audiences at the moment in these uncertain times, so that is always a high priority for us when looking at a website and the messaging it is relaying. And this is where our role as a consultant comes in, as we make sure that we advise our clients on their future journey and where it could take them and look at alternate routes for success in line with their objectives.

For us, it is a fascinating time and one that I feel will only get more immersed in all the avenues to markets that brands and businesses need to succeed.