Lucy Werner - Brand Yourself: A no-nonsense brand toolkit for small businesses

Lucy and Hadrien are a tour-de-force in the small business world. Lucy has taken PR and made it hyper-relevant for modern small businesses who want to make a serious commercial impact with their campaigns. But it is only when you layer in Hadriens vivacious branding mind that you get something truly revolutionary. The combination of their mutually deep understanding of how to build a brand that not only looks good but also speaks to its customers is unique and incredibly effective. Having worked with them both independently and together, I couldnt think of a better duo to bring this book to life. The book, however, speaks for itself.

Albert Azis-Clauson, CEO and co-founder, UnderPinned

The Wern is a wealth of inspiration and knowledge for small businesses and brands from all walks of life. Lucy and Hadrien truly understand what it takes to create an irresistible brand. From the visual aspects, all the way to the core of what you stand for as an individual, your brand is a kaleidoscope of parts that work perfectly together. A must-have for every entrepreneur out there.

Fab Giovanetti, marketing consultant, CEO and author of Reclaim your Time Off

As a former CMO I can tell you that in spite of the millions spent on branding the majority of the industry consists of expensive so-called experts whose aim is to take a relatively simple thing and make it intimidating and complicated. In Hype Yourself, Lucy took the PR industry and broke it down in a simple, easy to understand manner that any founder could apply to their business. Now with Hadrien alongside, theyve done the same with Brand Yourself, holding your hand as you get your brand strategy sorted, show you how to create a killer brand toolkit and how to spend smartly to make your brand famous. Its everything you need without the million dollar price tag attached.

Jeff Taylor, founder and Editor in Chief, Courier

I speak to so many people who have a vague understanding of branding. They know its important and that its more than just a logo but the terrifying process of working out who you are, what you stand for and how to convey your everything to the outside world, is a chore that most small businesses never fully complete. I think the main reason for this is because there has never been a real blueprint to follow, until now. Lucy and Hadrien have demystified the process of creating a strong identity. Follow the steps in this book and your brand will begin working for you while you sleep; by attracting the exact audience you wish to serve.

David Speed, host of Creative Rebels podcast and artist

First published in Great Britain by Practical Inspiration Publishing, 2021

Lucy Werner and Hadrien Chtelet, 2021

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

ISBN 9781788602730 (print)

9781788602754 (epub)

9781788602747 (mobi)

All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the authors.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

CONTENTS

To all the brilliant creative entrepreneurs. Its hard work. We see you. We appreciate you. We made this for you.

And our favourite mini creatives Niamh, Imogen, Luna, Nina, RafRaf and Mr B life is so much fun and brighter for having you in it.

INTRODUCTION

QUOTE

IT ALL STARTS WITH A STORY.

Hadrien Chtelet

Bonjour and welcome to Brand Yourself.

If you dont know me already Hello! Im Lucy Werner, Founder of The Wern, a public relations (PR), brand and graphic design agency for small businesses. Im the author of Hype Yourself, a business bestseller on do-it-yourself (DIY) PR. I wrote my first book off the back of over 16 years in the trenches of publicity, with the last six years running my own business. Ive taught for the University of Arts London, Cass Business School and written for Courier magazine, to name but a few. We are a Mailchimp and Squarespace accredited partner and our mission is to bring a hybrid of big agency experience to DIY offerings to create new affordable ways of brand building for small business owners.

So thats me. To be clear, though, most of the creative expertise and thinking in this book will be Hadriens. He is the creative director for The Wern, and he is also my partner and the father of my children. He has worked in bringing brands to life for well over a decade. His first foray into the creative world was when he was caught red-handed graffitiing and then instead of being arrested or fined, he was commissioned on the spot to create street art for Agns B! In the UK and after more legitimate career moves, he has worked as a junior designer for a wallpaper company, designer for an innovation agency and, before coming to work for me, his most recent role was building and managing the creative department for the European marketing division of Endeavor.

Since joining me at The Wern, he too has fallen in love with supporting independent and small business owners. Hadrien has worked with well over a hundred small business owners in the last year, doing everything from creating brands from scratch and refreshing existing brands, to designing websites, podcast covers, newsletter templates, packaging design and social media templates. And when he isnt doing all of this, he is also a lecturer for the modern business school Jolt and for the General Assembly, as well as offering one-to-one brand mentoring sessions. Between the two of us, weve taught thousands of people about branding and PR.

With our own clients we often share our strategic and tactical tips and, as you might imagine, there is a huge crossover with what we do on a day-to-day basis. But we do play to our strengths, and for this book, Hadrien is the visionary and I provide the words.

BRANDING WITH PURPOSE

Theres one more important thing to mention before we get stuck in. Through all of our work, weve seen that more often than not, the ethos of small businesses means they want to leave the world in a better place than they found it. Their services or products are for the greater good. So this book is our attempt to help small business owners build their brand with purpose at the heart.

And its important to us to practise what we preach otherwise, why should you trust us to help with your brand, right? When I was putting the first book to bed, our baby went into cardiac intensive care. We spent the first seven months in and out of hospital and while the worst is over, it is a journey that will be an ongoing part of his life with repeat surgeries required. Hadrien and I were supported by many people during this time, including our wider peer group of small business owners. To recognize this incredible support, one of the ways we want to give back is to donate 50% of this books profits to Beaus Fund a support fund for Great Ormond Street Hospital that helps to support other parents with babies in cardiac intensive care. So by purchasing this book you are directly helping other parents like us. Thank you.