Behind the Branding Scenes: Anchor Advisors

We recently helped our friends at Anchor Advisors go through a rebranding. A passionate team of small business and non-profit advisors, they already had a wealth of business expertise, devoted clients and a great track record—they just needed their brand to match that string of accomplishments. Enter BatesMeron and a strong brand strategy, new logo, collateral, web skin—and messaging that communicates how Anchor helps business owners find a path to growth and reclaim their passion for their business.

Anchor Advisors’ new logo.

Reflecting on the rebrand, Anchor Advisors Principal Brad Farris said, “I liked my logo and brand. My clients gave me good comments on it, and it had some equity within my community. But at the same time I knew it needed to be updated. The new website looks great and stands out in a crowded field. Our business cards communicate our professional image immediately—it’s been a very positive transition.”

As a client or business partner, you’d see the before and after and be suitably impressed. But what you wouldn’t see is all the work that goes on behind the scenes—the many steps it takes to ensure that a new brand is on-target, differentiated, aesthetic and effective.

To pull back the branding curtain a little, we thought we’d show you a small part of the process: logo design. Designing a logo requires immense concentration and inspiration. Picking a logo can be just as difficult of a task. Our clients need to make sure they’re selecting the right symbol for their company, after all. Sometimes they fall in love with a logo right away. Other times, they need to weigh several options, and do a couple tweaks, to find the right fit.

Anchor evaluated quite a few logos before settling on their new brand identity. With each logo that they reviewed, they learned a little more about what they wanted their brand to represent. Brad explains, “We reviewed a wide range of shapes and colors for our logo before settling on our new look, and that process really helped us to clarify what we wanted our brand to say to our clients and prospects.”

Below are some of the Anchor Advisors logos that didn’t quite make the cut. Most have a nautical bent but other than that, there’s a wide variety of expression, from classic to more out-there and from playful to more serious.

Would you have picked the same logo that the Anchor Advisors team did? You can let us know in the comments on our Facebook page. And for more of the client’s perspective on the rebranding process, check out Anchor Advisors’ rebranding announcement video.