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Branding,
Rebranding Design
& Brand Strategy

In today’s noisy business environment, having a strong and memorable brand is crucial.

At TOTEM, we know how crucial branding and rebranding are for defining your business’s identity and driving its success. Whether you’re launching a new brand or revitalising an existing one, the TOTEM team is ready to support you every step of the way.

Why Branding Matters

Branding is more than just a logo or a catchy tagline. It’s the sum of all experiences, perceptions, and interactions your customers have with your business. A well-crafted brand tells a story, evokes emotions, and builds trust. It differentiates you in a crowded marketplace and fosters loyalty among your audience.

TOTEM Insight: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

The Art of Rebranding

Rebranding involves a strategic shift that can rejuvenate your business, align it with new market realities, and appeal to evolving customer preferences. It’s a delicate balance of retaining the essence of your brand while updating its image and message to stay relevant.

TOTEM Tip: Rebranding is not just about changing your logo. It’s about transforming your business’s perception and reinvigorating your connection with your audience.

Start a meaningful conversation with TOTEM today to discover how we can help you create a brand that not only looks good but also delivers tangible business results.

1

Customer Research

What’s the best thing about what you offer from your customers’ point of view? We delve deep into understanding your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points. Through surveys, interviews, and data analysis, we gather valuable insights that shape our branding strategy.

2

Competitor Analysis

What unique attributes do you have that the alternatives lack? We evaluate your competitors’ positioning, strengths, and weaknesses to identify gaps and opportunities for differentiation.

3

Defining Value Proposition

What problem do you solve for your customers, and what difference does it make in their lives? We articulate a compelling value proposition that highlights the unique benefits of your product or service. This is the foundation of your brand’s promise to your customers.

4

Crafting the Positioning Statement

Who cares most about this, and why? We create a clear, concise statement that communicates your brand’s value. This guides all marketing and messaging efforts to ensure consistency and impact.

5

Implementation Strategy

Consistency in brand communication builds trust and reinforces your brand identity. We develop a comprehensive plan to integrate your positioning across all aspects of your business. This ensures a unified brand experience that resonates with your audience at every touchpoint.
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Adding Value. Always.

Fitzgerald Power

Fitzgerald Power are not your stereotypical accountants. Since starting out in the 1980s they have always thought outside the box, offering unique, creative solutions that enable their clients to manage their business better and build for the future.
Fitzgerald Power’s approach was not being clearly communicated by their existing branding. The challenge for TOTEM was to help them create an identity that would reflect their personality and purpose, differentiating them from the competition and conveying not just WHAT they do but WHY it matters.

Establishing the 'Why'

We began by leading a brand workshop to understand what Fitzgerald Power could uniquely offer clients. We discovered that they invest their time and resources only in areas where they can create the greatest value for clients. This is the lens through which all decisions are made at Fitzgerald Power.

It’s an approach that’s established them as one of Ireland’s top accountancy firms. TOTEM set out to express Fitzgerald Power’s refreshingly unconventional identity with a rebranding that was itself refreshingly unconventional.
Men in an office
Hands holding an ipad

Branding Design

Fitzgerald Power’s brand is based on three core strengths: insight, speed and context. The unrivalled depth and speed of their analysis yields detailed information which they carefully contextualise and tailor, offering clients a clear and comprehensive view of their business that enables them to grow.

TOTEM’s design expresses this unique identity. Using a vibrant palette of pink, purple and navy, we created a contemporary monogram in which three distinct shapes – reflecting the core strengths – combine to form the FP initials. These shapes are used across all applications – in various colours and sizes – to help bring Fitzgerald Power’s creative personality and outside-the-box thinking to life.

See the full case study and find out more below.

Read Success Story

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What our clients say

TOTEM energized something in us. Because we know the story we are in. But they helped us open it up. To see larger, broader and to focus on the vision. And it was very interesting for me. They came with a narrative that forced us to really think about it. To get through the story to the vision. Honestly, we could not achieve this without them.

Léone Atayi. CEO, Aton

Working with TOTEM as our branding agency has been refreshing. We found in Colin and his team a shared passion for doing things right and reappraising the status quo, to do the right things. I'm a firm believer in getting the brand strategy right first, investing time at the outset to get the rebranding process right and then trusting the creatives to deliver the outputs based on these vital inputs. This is working for us at Cork Airport. Our business has literally taken off with TOTEM on board to pilot our brand.

Kevin Cullinane. Group Head of Communications, DAA

I would recommend this branding process with Colin and the team at TOTEM, start to finish. In fact, I already have. TOTEM are already hard at work on a brand development project with a CEO who is a former colleague of mine, and he's thanked me for recommending them to him as his branding agency.

Colm Healy. CEO, Corrata

On this brand development journey, TOTEM helped us articulate what it is about us that makes us unique. Why our clients recommend and refer others to us. The brand strategy gave us a level of clarity we didn't have before. And a huge sense of pride as a team, to see ourselves accurately reflected with a new brand positioning, brand identity, and website we can believe in. That's a great feeling.

John O’Connell. Managing Partner

Working with our TOTEM was collaborative from the start. They really took the time to listen and understand Clann — not just our purpose and what we do, but what we mean to people.
The new identity captures that perfectly. It feels warm, grounded and authentic. It resonated strongly with the Clann team and, most importantly, with our residents.

Laura McDonnell. Head of Communication and Policy, Clúid.

From the outset of the project our TOTEM captured the values of the organisation in a way that connects in a direct and deeply meaningful way with our donors, supporters and stakeholders. Their creativity combined with their authenticity made them the ideal partner to communicate The Mercy Foundation’s story and vision for the future. ‘The Mercy’ is an organisation with deep roots in the community, held in great affection and our new website has articulated the humanity at the core of the Foundation whilst also illustrating reassurance and reliability.

Deirdre Finn. Head of Fundraising, The Mercy Foundation.

The brand has created clarity both internally and externally. Our team members have an identity they can rally behind, and partners see us as an independent entity they can trust. What’s most satisfying is seeing how quickly everyone embraced it – proving that when you get the strategy right, people just get it.
This wasn’t about imposing something new – it was about our TOTEM bringing our existing strengths into sharp focus.

Niamh Grier. Commercial Wholesale Director, Media Connect.

As a new part of a really strong brand, any change can pose problems for some, internally. Certain people with long tenure saw it as a fundamental threat to their own identity. But when we showed them the new visual identity, with its clear narrative and messages – the continuity that led back to the parent brand, you could see the cogs turning. They went from silence, to ‘I really like it’ – it became something safe and understandable, where they could see their purpose.

Aidan D’Arcy. CEO, Media Connect.

Working with TOTEM was a genuinely rewarding experience. They understood our brief immediately and delivered a brand identity and website that captured our vision from their very first presentation. The process was collaborative, reassuring and focused throughout a time-critical project. The attention to detail with an added personal touch helped strengthen our partnership. We’re proud of the brand we’ve built together.

Rebecca Quealy. Owner, The Hatmaker Boutique Hotel

We couldn’t recommend TOTEM highly enough. From the outset, we felt that they really supported us through the whole brand development process of defining our who we are and why we do it: they listened to us, reflected back what they were hearing at each stage, and presented us with potential branding solutions to help us clarify our thinking. We were energised by their branding process because it was clear, logical, creative, and relevant to our needs. Within our organisation, we are really pleased with our new brand positioning, identities, and websites. But the feedback from our stakeholders has also been universally positive.

Claire Meaney. Director

Realta Logo

FAQs

Thinking about a rebrand but still have
a few questions?
Our FAQ covers the most common concerns we hear from clients – from timelines and costs to how we approach strategy, naming, and rollout – so you know exactly what to expect when you work with TOTEM on your rebranding journey.

Rebranding can breathe new life into your business! It’s essential if your current brand no longer connects with your audience or reflects your evolved offerings, values, or mission. A fresh brand can make you stand out in a crowded market, tackle negative perceptions, and align with new trends and goals. Essentially, rebranding can rejuvenate your business, attract new customers, and reinforce your identity and purpose. Ready for a brand makeover? Let’s do this together!

Think of brand strategy as the heart and soul of your business. It defines who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you unique. On the flip side, marketing strategy is all about how you share that story with the world. It’s the action plan that uses various channels – like social media, ads, and content marketing – to reach and engage your audience. In a nutshell, brand strategy is about identity, while marketing strategy is about communication.

A brand awareness strategy is all about getting your name out there and making sure people remember it. It’s a plan designed to boost your brand’s visibility and familiarity among your target audience. This involves using content marketing, social media, influencer partnerships, PR efforts, and advertising to create memorable experiences. The goal? To make sure your brand is the first thing people think of when they need your product or service.

The branding journey can vary, but typically, it takes a few weeks to several months, depending on the project’s scope and complexity. We start with in-depth research and strategy development, which can take a few weeks. Then comes the exciting design phase, followed by implementation and rollout. At TOTEM, we tailor the process to your specific needs, ensuring every detail is perfect. We’re here to make your branding experience smooth and rewarding!

Just say hello

Starting a conversation with the team at TOTEM is as simple as that.
The bottom line is that we’re all about simplicity, helping our clients to find the clarity they need to take their business where they want it to go. So fill in your contact details below or simply give us a ring and say “hello”. Who knows where it could lead.
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