Is digital first branding the new normal?

The online presence follows the rules determined by the brand guidelines. It’s a tried and tested flow and one we have used and will continue to use on many projects.

But recently, we have found that more and more of our clients are using their website project and the digital brands we have created for them, as a launchpad for exploring, expanding and even totally reworking their overall brand identity and design system, with incredible success.

Instead of the website reflecting an established physical brand, the physical brand begins to mirror the digital one. This approach, which very much goes against the grain, is turning out to be a game changer. Here’s why…

In an increasingly digital world, customers and consumers are often first likely to discover your brand online - whether that’s your website, social media profiles, or online ads.

Since most discovery journeys now begin online, developing your brand in the digital space from the start is a strategic move, ensuring that your brand stands out where it counts the most; the first impression. By focusing on digital-first brand building, we can emphasise user experience, interactivity, and performance - key factors for drawing in and engaging online audiences - rather than being rigidly held to rules often created for offline-first environments.

A key advantage of digital-first branding is the availability of huge amounts of real-time analytics and data, in every aspect of your digital presence: be it website performance, user behaviour, or interactions and engagement. It can be tracked and analysed. This data helps to refine your brand based on what works best with your audience, allowing for an agile and responsive brand development process.

Traditional branding often relies heavily on either creative intuition (which can be biased or based on assumption) or market research (which can be slow and limited by volume). By starting digitally, the brand can evolve dynamically and quickly using actual data to inform decision-making.

Launching changes to your brand online offers a unique opportunity for quick testing and iteration, with real customers, in real time. Such rapid adjustments help to fine-tune the brand’s identity before investing in costly offline assets like printed materials or product packaging.

The digital-first approach opens up the possibility of experimentation. You can test new content types, an adapted colour palette, or a refreshed design framework cost-effectively and with the option to revert. These would be far more difficult and far more costly to test in the physical space, making experimentation a risk, not an opportunity.

By building a brand digitally, we prioritise the ‘user’ (the customer / consumer) first. Websites are designed with smooth navigation, intuitive interfaces, and usability in mind. This customer-centric approach ensures that your brand is more accessible and relatable from the outset, improving the experience.

Focusing on digital-first supports the creation of more meaningful connections with customers and consumers. Through responsive website design, personalisation, and interactivity, the user is at the heart of all decisions, which in turn leads to stronger engagement and deeper loyalty - win win!

In today’s digital world, starting with a digital-first brand can give you a competitive edge, allowing you to iterate faster, try things more cost-effectively and engage more deeply. It’s not right for every business or brand of course, but for some, digital brand expansion and evolution is a fantastic approach and one we are seeing more and more.

We worked with Aganto on elevating their brand for the digital space alongside the design and development of their new website. During our discovery workshop, we discussed the brand and explored the possibilities of progressing the visual identity for digital. Since then, Aganto has taken its new digital brand identity and is rolling it out in the physical space, too.