Express Branding Concepts Ltd

19/04/2017

19/04/2017

16/04/2017

We understand how important it is for you to show appreciation to your clients, colleagues and friends. Sending a thoughtful gift shows you value their patronage.

We have a wide range of amazing gifts both for marketing plan and End of the Year giveaways. We customize based on your choice to add extra branding to your marketing mix.

You can request for a sample via [email protected] or Call 08033120477

05/02/2017

THERE IS NO COMPETITION IN DESTINY

I was jogging this morning and I noticed a person about 1/2 a kilometer ahead. I could tell he was running a little slower than me and I thought, good, I shall try to catch him. I had about a kilometer before I needed to turn off. So I started running faster and faster.

Every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. After just a few minutes I was only about 100 meters behind him, so I really picked up the pace and pushed myself. You would have thought I was running in the last leg of an Olympic competition. I was determined to catch him.

Finally, I did it! I caught and passed him. On the inside, I felt so good. "I beat him" Of course, he didn't even know we were racing.

After I passed him, I realized I had been so focused on competing against him that I had missed my turn. I had gone nearly six blocks past my turn and I had to turn and go back.

Isn't that what happens in life when we focus on competing with co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we are more successful or more important?

We spend our time and energy running after them and we miss out on our own paths to our God-given destinies.

The problem with unhealthy competition is that it's a never ending cycle. There will always be somebody ahead of you, someone with a better job, nicer car, more money in the bank, more education, a prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, etc.

But realize that "You can be the best that you can be, when you are not competing with anyone."

Some people are insecure because they pay too much attention to what others are, where others are going, wearing and driving.

Take what God has given you, the height, weight and personality. Dress well and wear it proudly, you'll be blessed by it. Stay focused and live a healthy life. There is no competition in Destiny.

Run your own race and wish others well.

07/12/2016

Nokia Edge: Powerful and Out-standing designed

Accordingly, a new designed Nokia has been published and immediately attract the attention of every Nokia fan. After Nokia Pixel and a Nokia flagship, another Nokia smartphone seems to enter the market soon: the Nokia Edge. Most of up-coming phones from Nokia are predicted to mainly made by HMD Global and this smartphone will not be out of that group. However, a Nokia smartphone is always out-standing and adorable.

As its name suggests, the Nokia Edge owns a bezel-less screen that the edges expand in both sides, top and bottom edges are also minimized to increase your visibility of the screen. Nokia Edge has a metal full body with durable material. The most interesting and extra-ordinary feature in Nokia Edge stays at the top edge where there is a secondary monitor to display messages, or users can access the application icon quickly.

The specifications of Nokia Edge hasn’t been fully unveiled but you will be surprised by what we got about this stunning beast. In the front of the handset, we will see the logo of Nokia at the bottom and a 12MP front camera for selfie picture. In the back of the phone, there is a fingerprint under the 23MP main camera. In addition, the machine is also equipped with a USB Type-C at the bottom edge and there is no 3.5 mm headphone jack because it would support wireless headphone. Nokia Edge is most likely to run Android 7.0 Nougat and has high memory capacity.

Nokia Edge released date and price.
As we have waited nearly one year to see the comeback of Nokia with Nokia D1C that will be released in the next February. So the earliest we can see this phone may be at the end of 2017. However, we will probably get the phone on hand much sooner because Nokia is no longer under the acquisition of Microsoft. As other Nokia phones, this phone is expected to have a reasonable price. So let’s wait and see!

06/12/2016

I've come to realize that what you lack in Talent can be made up with desire. Hustle and giving 💯% all the time could be the way forward.

05/12/2016

If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn't thinking...Discuss!

04/12/2016

Branding, Identity & Logo Design Explained

A logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. Logo design, identity design and branding all have different roles, that together, form a perceived image for a business or product.

There has been some recent discussion on the web about this topic, about your logo not being your brand. Although this may be true, I haven’t seen any clarification of the differences between ‘brand’, ‘identity’ and ‘logo’. I wish to rectify this.

What is brand? – The perceived emotional corporate image as a whole.
What is identity? – The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand.
What is a logo? – A logo identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.

To explain this in more detail, let’s start at the top – the brand.

What is branding?
Apple - Apple

Branding is certainly not a light topic – whole publications & hundreds of books have been written on the topic, however to put it in a nutshell you could describe a ‘brand’ as an organisation, service or product with a ‘personality’ that is shaped by the perceptions of the audience. On that note, it should also be stated that a designer cannot “make” a brand – only the audience can do this. A designer forms the foundation of the brand.

Many people believe a brand only consists of a few elements – some colours, some fonts, a logo, a slogan and maybe some music added in too. In reality, it is much more complicated than that. You might say that a brand is a ‘corporate image’.

The fundamental idea and core concept behind having a ‘corporate image’ is that everything a company does, everything it owns and everything it produces should reflect the values and aims of the business as a whole.

It is the consistency of this core idea that makes up the company, driving it, showing what it stands for, what it believes in and why they exist. It is not purely some colours, some typefaces, a logo and a slogan.

As an example, let’s look at the well known IT company, Apple. Apple as a company, projects a humanistic corporate culture and a strong corporate ethic, one which is characterised by volunteerism, support of good causes & involvement in the community. These values of the business are evident throughout everything they do, from their innovative products and advertising, right through to their customer service. Apple is an emotionally humanist brand that really connects with people – when people buy or use their products or services; they feel part of the brand, like a tribe even. It is this emotional connection that creates their brand – not purely their products and a bite sized logo.

For a more thorough understanding of branding, in simple terms, I recommend Wally Olin’s: The Brand Handbook which I quote is “an essential, easy-reference guide to brilliant branding”.

What is identity design?
Coca Cola

One major role in the ‘brand’ or ‘corporate image’ of a company is its identity.

In most cases, identity design is based around the visual devices used within a company, usually assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines that make up an identity usually administer how the identity is applied throughout a variety of mediums, using approved colour palettes, fonts, layouts, measurements and so forth. These guidelines ensure that the identity of the company is kept coherent, which in turn, allows the brand as a whole, to be recognisable.

The identity or ‘image’ of a company is made up of many visual devices:

A Logo (The symbol of the entire identity & brand)
Stationery (Letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.)
Marketing Collateral (Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.)
Products & Packaging (Products sold and the packaging in which they come in)
Apparel Design (Tangible clothing items that are worn by employees)
Signage (Interior & exterior design)
Messages & Actions (Messages conveyed via indirect or direct modes of communication)
Other Communication (Audio, smell, touch, etc.)
Anything visual that represents the business.
All of these things make up an identity and should support the brand as a whole. The logo however, is the corporate identity and brand all wrapped up into one identifiable mark. This mark is the avatar and symbol of the business as a whole.

What is a logo?
IBM -

To understand what a logo is, we must first understand what it is for.

A logo is for… identification.

A logo identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo does not sell the company directly nor rarely does it describe a business. Logo’s derive their meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around – logos are there to identity, not to explain. In a nutshell, what a logo means is more important than what it looks like.

To illustrate this concept, think of logos like people. We prefer to be called by our names – James, Dorothy, John – rather than by the confusing and forgettable description of ourselves such as “the guy who always wears pink and has blonde hair”. In this same way, a logo should not literally describe what the business does but rather, identify the business in a way that is recognisable and memorable.

It is also important to note that only after a logo becomes familiar, does it function the way it is intended to do much alike how we much must learn people’s names to identify them.

The logo identifies a business or product in its simplest form.

Summary:
Brand –The perceived emotional corporate image as a whole.
Identity – The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand.
Logo – Identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.

How would you summarise brand, identity and logo design? Comments and thoughts are welcome, as always.

04/12/2016

Re - Invent Your Brand - The RMD Way

I believe we are our best story tellers. Maybe that’s why I am passionate about helping African professionals and the likes, develop the courage to tell their unique stories in such a way that it brings them true success and fulfillment. One that gives them that opportunity to also have fun while doing it. Talking about fun, I do not believe only Actors, like Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) should have fun while being who they really are and doing what they truly love. We all have that capacity. So nothing should stop us from building and re-building a unique path for ourselves. If you keep thinking of yourself as a brand you begin that exciting path of your life.

Now, I have never really met RMD, the closest I have been to him was at the American embassy in Lagos a little over a year or two ago, when I spotted him from a distance. With his height, panache and his newly and carefully trimmed white bears, you definitely cannot miss him in a crowd. When you have a strong brand, much of what we see on the outside has been rooted in the details you have carved from the inside in terms of how you want to be perceived and the impact you want to create when people come in contact with you. When you can achieve this consistently and through the years and at the different stages in your life, you keep your brand alive and fresh anytime and everywhere.

Life is a stage; Shakespeare reminds us in his works. And the truth is no matter what we think, and as long as we are alive, old age will come. So if you’re 25 today, 40 will come, then 50, 60, 80 and so on. Pause for a little while and think of the reality of these ages. How do you want to be seen when it comes, what sort of stories do you want people to tell of you when that time comes? Will you shrink because you feel you’re now old and gray? Or will you rise and shine in the beauty of your age. I believe every age we meet should be a beautiful experience with renewed hopes in the possibilities that still lie ahead.

I know most of us are scared of getting old or aging. I used to be before, but as I live more authentically daily, I have now embraced the possibilities in each passing age and the joys that come with its reality. If you’re a fan of RMD, you might have noticed a certain difference in him in the last few movies and TV shows that he has featured in. I can confidently say he is basking brilliantly as he ages. He has re-invented the RMD brand in a certain way that is admirable when you compare with the lives of his contemporaries who have probably gone into oblivion or are not relevant anymore in the scheme of things. It’s refreshing to see how this amazing actor has evolved and it is important for every professional to draw some lessons from the potentials and possibilities in each of us that we can choose to keep alive or destroy depending on the choices we make.

If you are at that place where you feel you need to re-invent your brand or get yourself back into a place where you feel joy and true success, then you want to become more aware of some principles I believe Richard Mofe Damijo and a number of other professionals and business leaders I know, continuously use to stay fresh and relevant as they progress through life:

Don’t Be Afraid Of Being You

If there is anything that is extremely important in building a unique brand is being yourself and staying true to the values that would take you through the ages. If you do not find anything different in you, then it would be difficult to create an exceptional life for yourself. I see RMD as an Actor who has never stopped being one even when he explored his strengths into politics a few years ago. He did not take up a role in government that had to do with Education or finance or Commerce or Health. He stayed within his strength by being a Commissioner for Culture & Tourism. He has easily come back from a similar terrain and is now back to the stage. Discover your unique place and keep looking for ways to rekindle its strength, that way you stay ‘new’ to generations to come.

Plant Something Early

In most circumstances, there is that urge to get onto anything when one leaves school especially in this part of the world. The story is; ‘as long as it pays the bills’. My take; ‘Don’t stay too long in that ocean of when ‘anything’ comes your path’! And the reason is this; you will find it difficult to sustain it because you have not planted one unique thing that you can harvest and keep harvesting as the years go by. When you plant your uniqueness in the world at an early stage and you stay consistent and true to it, you won’t be afraid of retiring or of gray hairs when they come, you would welcome it with open arms.

Guard Your Health

There is that reality that you will not have the same type of energy you had at 30, when you eventually turn 60. But you can choose to maintain a healthy body and mind most especially. Janice Anderson once said ‘Your life is an opportunity to question, discover and explore’. Guard your health and live through the huge opportunities life brings to us. Maybe without RMD’s white bears and the command of his garb, he could still go for a young lad in his 30s. Health they say is wealth! So drink a lot of water daily, exercise, eat healthy, love your family and make out time to have fun with them(our lives are not just about work). Be true to all the values that make you; you.

Keep Learning; Stay Grateful

In re-inventing your brand, you must accept and recognize that your gray hairs do not mean you should stop learning new skills. Let humility lead you because you would see yourself learning even from the young ones around you. Life is a continuous learning journey. A grateful mind rekindles presumably ‘lost fires’. When you are grateful even for the most minut of the details in your life, you open yourself to more opportunities and your relevance grows within the community you have chosen to identify yourself with.

Don’t Follow The Crowd

Your unique selling proposition is what people will remember you for. The difference only you bring is what people will hold as your story in their hearts. But you can only achieve this if you have discovered your gift to the world and you’re leveraging on the difference it brings. You will not find this when you stay with the crowd and aim at doing what everyone is doing. RMD is leveraging on his unique gifts and on the difference he brings into the world of movies and stage acting. You can do the same as well within your chosen career path and see the difference you make as you keep your personal brand alive.

This article was written by: Chidi Okpala