Branding agency in Southampton: You bring the story. We build the brand.
Brand strategy, identity and storytelling for established businesses and new ventures. We help you work out what makes your business worth remembering, then design the look and the words that say it on everything from your signs and packaging to your website.
Trusted by The Kirkmichael Arms, Incognito, Zouk and Fortunate Son
engineA Southampton branding agency that starts with your story
If you're launching something new, relaunching an established business or bringing a product to market, customers need to recognise you quickly and remember what you stand for. That has to work on a sign, a package, a printed page and a phone screen.
As a branding agency in Southampton, we work out your story with you first. Then we design everything that carries it: your logo, colours, type, illustration and the way you write, with simple rules so your team and suppliers keep it consistent.
What you get
- 01
Brand strategy
Who your customers are, what you stand for and what sets you apart, agreed with you before any design starts.
- 02
Identity design
Your logo, colours, type and artwork, designed to work together. You see them on real menus, labels and screens before you approve them.
- 03
Brand storytelling and tone of voice
The story behind your business in words and pictures, so your staff, menus and social posts all tell it the same way.
- 04
Rollout
Your new look carried onto packaging, signs, print, social media and your website.
- 05
Guidelines and files
A guide to using it all, and ready-to-use files for printers, sign makers and your own team.
Do you need a new brand, a rebrand or a refresh?
Most branding work starts from one of these four places. Knowing which one you're in makes it easier to brief us, and it shapes the cost.
- 01
A new brand
You're opening something new. You have a name and an idea, and you need everything else: the story, the look and the words.
- 02
A rebrand
Your business has changed and your brand hasn't. New owners, a new menu or a move from local to national all count.
- 03
A refresh
Customers like you, but your look has dated or drifted, with a slightly different logo on every sign. We tidy it up and give you rules that keep it tidy.
- 04
A brand that has to stretch
You're adding products, a range or a second site. The brand needs room for them, and each new thing should still look like you.
Brand storytelling that starts with listening
Your business probably has a story already. It might be a local legend, the person who makes the wine or the people a service is for. Brand storytelling means finding the one your customers will remember and repeat, then building your look and your words around it.
Finding it means listening to you, your staff and your customers. For one winery, that meant getting to know the winemaker properly. For a youth mental health service, it meant workshops where young people shaped the brand themselves.
“The Place Beyond proved to be an exceptional partner on the BeU Swindon project. What stood out from the beginning was the depth of research undertaken to truly understand our audiences, exploring the needs, behaviours and motivations of the young people, parents, carers and professionals we wanted to engage, ensuring every aspect of the campaign was built on genuine insight.”
Our branding process, from first conversation to launch day
Rebranding a Scottish pub around the legend of Robert the Bruce
The Kirkmichael Arms is a Michelin-listed pub in Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, with centuries of history, where Justin Galea is chef and owner. The pub needed to look modern and be easier to find online, while keeping the Scottish heritage that makes the place.
Robert the Bruce's story is usually told through a spider's web. We retold it as a set of lions, which now run through the pub's website, social media and print, alongside over 500 photographs from a three-day shoot across Ayrshire. Website traffic rose 45% in the three months after launch, helped by the new website and an SEO campaign.
“The Place Beyond’s professionalism, creativity, and attention to detail gave us a brand that truly reflects who we are. From illustrations and web work to photography of our dishes and the warmth of our Ayrshire pub, everything was carefully crafted and lifted our presence online. We’re thrilled with the outcome and would recommend them to anyone redefining their identity.”
More identity and brand storytelling work
Questions about branding
What does a branding agency do?
A branding agency works out what your business stands for and who it's for, then designs how it looks and sounds wherever customers meet it. With us that covers strategy, your visual identity, brand storytelling and tone of voice, and the guidelines that keep it all consistent, made by one senior team in Southampton.
What's the difference between branding and a logo?
The logo is one part of your brand: the mark people recognise. Branding is everything around it, from your story and the way you write to colours, type, artwork and the rules for using them. If the rest is already in place and you only need the mark, our logo design service is the better fit.
What is brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling is building your brand around one true thing about your business, such as where it comes from, who runs it or a local legend. The same story then shows up on your logo, menus, labels, website and social posts, which gives customers something to remember and pass on.
Can you rebrand us without losing what customers already know?
Yes. We start by finding out what your customers already recognise and like about you, such as a name, a colour or a symbol, and we keep it. Then we change whatever is holding you back. Regulars still know it's you, and new customers see a business that looks current.
What do we get at the end of a branding project?
The full identity: your logo and its versions, colours, type, artwork and tone of voice, in files ready for print and screen. You also get brand guidelines, so your team and suppliers use it properly. The work is yours to use across your business, and we confirm that in writing.
How much does branding cost in the UK?
It depends on how much we're building. Refreshing a brand that mostly works costs less than creating a new one with strategy, illustration, photography and a rollout across packaging and signs. The size of your range and the number of places the brand has to appear matter too. Talk us through it on a free call and you'll get an honest estimate of the scope.
How long does a branding project take?
Long enough to agree your strategy before design starts, and to show you the identity on real items before you approve it. Beyond that, it depends on how much there is to design and when you launch. Give us your launch date when you first get in touch and we'll be straight with you about what fits.
Are you a branding agency in Southampton?
Yes. We're based in Southampton and work with established businesses across Hampshire, such as Incognito, a cocktail bar group with its flagship in Winchester. Many of our clients are further away, in Scotland, Manchester and California, and you work with the same senior team wherever you are.
Do you only brand hospitality and drinks businesses?
Most of our branding is for high-end hospitality and premium wine and spirits. We've also built a brand with young people for a youth mental health service, and written a brand voice for Screencraft, a Hull company that makes shop displays. If your business has a story worth telling, we'd like to hear it.
Ready when you are
Talk to us about your brand.
Tell us where your brand is now and where you'd like it to be. We'll reply within one working day and set up a free call to talk it through.
What happens next
- 1You'll hear back from us within one working day.
- 2We'll set up a free, no-obligation call with the people who'd actually do the work. Everything is made in-house.
- 3You get a clear proposal with scope, timeline and cost, usually within a week of our call.
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