There’s a lot to love about The Honey Pot’s branding.

The nostalgic feel, tasteful colour palette and house style flows effortlessly through their icons, imagery and typography.

But it’s when you start to look a little deeper that the true magic of the brand really comes to life.

Branding is so much more than just a logo, and The Honey Pot are a great example.

Before we jump into what makes them so great, I’ll cover a brief overview of what branding really is.

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What is branding?

Branding embodies a company's entire identity; creating a perception in the minds of their customers and target audience.

It includes everything from the visuals, such as colours and fonts, to the way they speak (a.k.a. Tone of voice). It even includes the values they stand for.

You can think of branding as the company’s personality, and the closer that personality is to the community they’re trying to sell to, the more likely they are to build connections with its audience.

Spending time on your branding is key for developing awareness and recognition. When people can easily identify your brand, there’s a higher chance that they’ll choose your brand over others.

The personality should replicate your ideal customer’s values, interests, desires and aspirations; a mirror of their most positive thoughts around your niche.

And a big benefit is that good branding can even help you raise your prices.

Customers are often willing to pay more for a brand they align with. Nike, for example.

Ultimately, branding is an integral part of the overall growth and health of your business - and getting it right early means easier, more sustained growth.

So, like Winnie the Pooh after another challenging adventure, let's dive into The Honeypot.

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Why is The Honey Pot’s branding good?

Every customer touchpoint embodies the brand.

From their playful wording of ‘Need help with your honeypot?’ to their basket icon being, well, a honey pot. You can even see it in action through their membership plans of joining the ‘hive’ and honeycomb tiling in product shots.

It carries familiarity and warmth, sidestepping the majority of the market that often leans toward the clinical.

And it makes sense.

They’re dealing with a sensitive, personal subject - and the branding makes you feel comfortable. The experience is like dealing with a knowledgeable, caring friend in their living room over a white-coated stranger in a doctor’s office.

The product images are vibrant, fun and inclusive. Integrating gifs for movement and making the audience pause to see what enters the frame, something that may have otherwise been skipped through.

Just check out their Sexual Wellness page where you can actually use the wipes.

Overall the HoneyPot brand is a master class in how a company can deploy a successful brand identity, evoking feeling through every single touch point.

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What branding principles are The Honey Pot implementing well?

1. Consistency

From the website designs to the product pictures to the social media pages, not a single stone has been left unturned.

Everything deploys the same brand colours, fonts, logo, and ToV, creating a united front that makes it easier for their target audience to instantly recognise them.

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2. Hierarchy

On the website, you can see a clear contrast between font sizes and weights, prompting the audience to read particular text ahead of others.

The CTA’s offer contrast once they’ve been interacted with, but not when viewing the page as a whole, making it less cluttered until the action is required.

Callouts on the product images pop up as animations, causing the audience to stop and read info they may have otherwise missed.

The result is that the audiences can gauge what information they need to know at a glance.

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3. Surprise and delight

Sometimes classed as a gimmick, but when done right, it can really elevate your brand and make it memorable.

These are the small things that are integrated into the user experience that make the customer interaction that little bit more unique.

The Honey Pot has quite a few examples on their website.

For example, the pre-mentioned sexual wellness page with the wipeable cover or when you hover of the products on the collections page, they show different shots of the product.

You can even factor in the quiz, which eliminates potential overwhelm around what to buy.

Everything’s been thought of. The delight is in the details.

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What could The Honey Pot improve?

I’d like to caveat the following points by saying I have no idea what market research they’ve done or how they define their target market.

Both of those elements are completely vital to crafting an effective brand personality.

That being said, here are some general observations on how Honey Pot could stand out even further.

The branding direction is very safe (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

From my understanding, there are two common trends within the industry: the clinical, clean, scientific approach and the friendly, floral pastel colours. They aren't unique and there’s nothing disruptive, but not that all brands need to be.

But could they really push the boat out? Could they become the Liquid Death of the feminine care world?

I’m not suggesting they make skater-inspired, heavy-metal sexual wellness wipes, but could they break all the pre-conceived boundaries with something completely and utterly different?

If you’re scrolling down a general retailer’s website or walking down a store aisle, I don’t think they stand out.

The selling environment will play a big factor - and it might be that the target audience values a more subtle/generic branding on the packaging.

Woowoo are a good example of a disruptive brand that breaks the mould and captures attention with intense colours and bold typography.

But this is where understanding your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is vital, and one of the key reasons how it can help guide the direction of your brand.

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How to use The Honey Pot to inspire your branding

At this point, some of you will already be bubbling over with ideas for your brand.

And it’s an exercise you should do consistently. You don’t need to do it every month, but every time you see a cool brand, add it to a folder and revisit it when you need a refresh.

But you can’t just replicate the best bits from every brand you’ll see. Otherwise, you’ll end up as some Frankenstein company, cobbled and confused.

Here are three key areas that can help build your brand and maximise your branding efforts.

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1. Target audience

I’m always amazed at how much the target audience are overlooked - not just for branding, but for overall growth.

If you don’t have a clear picture of your ideal customer, that’s where you need to start. What do they like? What do they hate? How do they normally shop? What brands do they buy from? What interests do they have?

You should know your ideal customer so well that you could play them in a movie without needing a script.

And once you know your customer, every decision you make should stem from them.

For example, let’s say you make skincare for men aged 25-30. On the surface, they seem pretty happy with the skincare routine they have, but from diving deeper, you realise most target customers want to do more, but they don’t know how.

All the current brands seem confusing and out of touch.

So, you build your brand around simplicity. The design is minimalist to cut through the noise. The tone of voice is simple to get straight to the point. And you introduce a section of your website designed to educate your audience on the benefits and drawbacks of certain ingredients.

Without truly knowing your customer, you would have ended up building the exact same brands that are out there, but through understanding, you’re different.

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2. Consistency

If you’ve picked a font for your branding, use it. If you use select colours, stick to them.

That’s how you build your brand and increase your chance of recognition.

Anywhere your brand is, ensure that the same, logo, fonts, colours, TOV, layout, picture style, illustration style etc… is consistent.

That doesn’t just mean your website - ads, social media, PR, influencer collaborations, blogs, and whatever else your brand touches all matter.

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3. Execution

Finally, the execution.

Most brands skip straight to this part without the fundamentals. You shouldn’t even be thinking about how your brand looks without a good understanding of your customer, the market, and your capabilities.

The execution needs to be in line with what your target audience resonates with, but it also needs to portray your brand in the correct light, building trust and credibility.

This doesn’t mean that everything needs to be ultra-polished and clean (unless that’s what your target audience looks for), but customers have more options than ever before, so any advantage you can get gives you power: and brand carries a lot of advantages.

You’ve put a lot of work into building your business, don’t let the final touches be what puts people off.