Despite countless reminders not to judge a book by its cover, it’s inevitable that consumers will form immediate judgments about your brand based on its branding. Branding, specifically good branding, is the first thing a consumer notices about your brand, and can make or break their decision to become a customer. More than just designing a logo, brand building is all about differentiating your brand from competitors through the name, design, voice, personality, and values. However, the importance of good branding goes beyond a first impression. Creating a strong brand identity can increase consumer loyalty, build credibility, and establish trust. 

The Importance of Good Branding

When Kennedy Crichlow and Mary Ralph set out to build their own clothing brand, building a strong brand identity was their top priority. They recognized the importance of brand building not only from their social media and marketing backgrounds, but also from their daily interactions with brands as influencers. When asked what factors determined the brand partnerships they accepted, both attributed their decision-making primarily to how the brand made them feel. Was it a personality match? Would they feel comfortable adopting the brand’s tone of voice? Did their values align? These personal experiences significantly shaped the brand identity of Daily Drills.

Building the Daily Drills Brand

After toying with countless brand names, Ken and Ralph kept coming back to Daily Drills, and it stuck. They also knew that they wanted to incorporate the “!” into their logo design, and sketched out multiple ideas before settling on replacing the “i” in Drills to make DAILY DR!LLS. The exclamation point has since become a prominent identifier for the brand, appearing throughout all of its imagery and copy. Additionally, it serves as a reminder for Ken and Ralph to always put emphasis on everything they do as founders. They constantly check in with their team to ensure that everyone feels excited about their work and is working hard, while playing hard, too!

“We probably sent over a thousand exclamation points back and forth while we were texting about Daily Drills, so we wanted that enthusiasm to be evident in our branding” – Kennedy Crichlow 

The exclamation point also represents the mission at the core of Daily Drills: to make getting dressed fun! Waking up and choosing an outfit could be a mundane part of one’s routine, but the founders aimed to design pieces that inspire shoppers to get creative and find joy. Why end a sentence with a period when you could end it with an exclamation point, and why make getting dressed boring when you could choose fun?!

Ken and Ralph selected a shade of green to be their signature color because it felt alive and natural, while also still being neutral enough to pair with the many colors they anticipated using in their designs. Green felt happy and lush, akin to being outdoors and traveling, which is what the brand was made for. 

The Story Behind the Daily Drills Patch

Once they settled on the rectangular DAILY DR!LLS logo, they decided to boldly place the patch on every item they designed. Ken and Ralph were confident that they were creating something special and wanted to find a way to proudly claim each piece as their own. From the start, they envisioned Daily Drills expanding from activewear to include lounge and resort styles. Adding the patch ensured that every collection stayed true to the brand and could be easily recognizable. 

Shoppers everywhere now proudly sport the Daily Drills patch, photographing it as they go, as a testament to the strong sense of community that the brand identity has fostered. Consumers not only want to wear the brand name; they want to share it too. It’s no wonder that the Daily Drills Sport Crew, prominently featuring the brand name across its front, consistently tops the charts as the best-selling item. 

The importance of brand building cannot be underestimated. Ken and Ralph’s dedication to establishing a strong brand identity, from the incorporation of the exclamation point to the choice of color and prominent placement of the logo patch, has created a brand that not only stands out but also fosters a sense of community among its customers.