Ceningan Divers does not exist yet. Nusa Ceningan is an island most divers have never heard of, the small one next to Nusa Lembongan off Bali, and a small group of partners, including us, has decided to open a dive centre there this year.
The name presents an immediate challenge: people who have never seen it written find it difficult to grasp when they hear it.
Before there are guests, and before there is anything to photograph, we must therefore define what kind of place this will be. The process is taking longer than anticipated, and we are convinced that it matters more than any decision about colours or fonts.
Why should a dive resort brand start with values rather than a logo?
Most founders want to begin with the logo. This is understandable, since it is the most enjoyable part and gives a sense of progress. During years at Raincity Studios in Vancouver, we saw many clients take this approach, and we have done so ourselves when enthusiastic about a new idea.
A logo, however, answers no operational questions. It does not determine whether a boat carries twelve divers or six, or how to respond when a guest wants to hold a turtle for a photo. Values do. They are the principles a team relies on when no one is available to decide.
For a dive business on a very small island, the questions are concrete. To what extent will we protect the reef when doing so costs a busy day? Will this be a lively place or a quiet one? Who is it for: the backpacker taking an Open Water course on a tight budget, or the experienced diver who has come to see large marine life? A business can attempt to serve both, but most that try end up serving neither well, and guests perceive this.
Values do not arrive fully formed. Many of ours will become clear only once we are open and must make real decisions with real money at stake. That is to be expected. We nevertheless want the first values recorded now, while debating them costs little, because every decision after opening day will be measured against something. That reference point is more useful on paper than held in four different minds.
How can you test your own values?
Write down three or four principles that you believe should guide how your business operates. For each one, describe a situation in which adhering to it would cost you money.
If no such situation can be identified, the principle is a slogan rather than a value.
This test is more demanding than it appears. Many statements that sound like values on a whiteboard turn out to be slogans once their cost is considered. It is better to establish this now, before the boats are booked and the pressure is real.
How should a business name be chosen?
A business name should be easy to spell and easy to find on Google. This principle requires some nuance in our own case.
The rule is simple, and we have recommended it for years: choose a name that someone can spell after hearing it once. A person who hears the name from a friend on a boat or in a bar must be able to type it into Google, Facebook or Instagram the next morning and find the business. Every misspelling is a potential guest who may end up elsewhere.
Ceningan departs somewhat from this rule, since the word is not easy for those who have never seen it written. It is, however, the name of the island, which carries considerable weight. A person searching for diving on Nusa Ceningan is precisely the guest we want to reach, and when a business name matches its location, the business benefits as the location becomes better known. We expect this island to become better known, as Lembongan is already busy.
The lesson is therefore more nuanced than the rule. A difficult name can work if it is linked to something people already search for. The name to avoid is the clever invented one that is meaningful only to the founders. Such names are common; they look attractive on a sign but are difficult to find online.
The checks we are carrying out before making a final decision:
- Say the name aloud to someone and ask them to type it, without assistance.
- Check the availability of the domain, the Instagram handle and the Facebook page name before committing to the name.
- Search for it on Google. If the first page is dominated by another business with the same name, reconsider.
- Test it with people from several countries. In Bali, guests come from Australia, Europe, China and elsewhere, and some names are perceived very differently depending on the listener.
How do you write a brand story that guests will repeat?
This is the area where we recommend that any small business owner invest the most time, and it is also the step most often skipped.
Guests do not repeat a mission statement; they repeat a sentence, such as "it's a small dive shop on the quiet island next to Lembongan, and they really look after the reef." If we do the work well, this is approximately what a satisfied guest will say to a friend over dinner at home. That single sentence then supports the business's marketing for years: TripAdvisor reviews, word of mouth and the friend who books on a recommendation all depend on it.
We therefore recommend writing that sentence yourself, first, and recording it on paper as the description you would like a guest to give. Then compare every element against it: the website, the photos you post, the way the phone is answered and the briefing on the boat. If the story describes a small, quiet operation and the photos show a crowded boat, guests notice the inconsistency.
Our sentence is still a draft. It will evolve once real guests have been on real boats, which is appropriate. When the website launches, however, the Ceningan Divers about us page is where that sentence must appear, in plain language, before anything else. The first guests are the ones who begin repeating it, and what they repeat endures.
What are we doing differently this time?
Primarily, the order of the work: first define what the business is, then define how it looks. This principle guided our work at Raincity, and it is even more relevant now that our own investment and our own name are involved. Much of what is described as marketing strategy in a small business consists of exactly this: knowing whom the business serves and declining the rest.
The second difference is documentation. In a new business, much of the brand exists in the founders' minds. This works while only the founders are involved. It no longer works once the business hires its first employee, briefs a designer or explains to a new divemaster why things are done a certain way. We are therefore maintaining a single reference page: the values, the sentence, the naming rules, and the colours once they are chosen.
Finally, less early effort is being devoted to the logo, since guests do not choose a dive centre on the basis of its logo.