Choosing a branding agency in Manchester: what to look for

An introduction to Manchester branding agencies

What is Branding?

Branding is more than a great name and logo; in 2025, it’s the way your entire business is perceived. A strong brand builds trust, sets you apart in your industry, and influences how your audience feels about your business and the associations they form with it.

Manchester is a hub for start-ups, creative industries, and branding – with recent plans announced for the city’s industries to grow even more exponentially. While this is great news for the region, it also means your brand needs to work even harder to stand out in an increasingly competitive market.

Competition, however, isn’t the only reason you might be ready to give your business a fresh identity. There are lots of other ways you could be due for a rebrand, including:

• Repositioning your offerings
• Recent growth or mergers
• Launching new services
• Or simply outgrowing your current look and feel.
  

What does a branding agency do?

It may sound cliché, but a dedicated agency really does take the pain out of rebranding. Our 7-step process ensures you’re getting the very best out of your new identity:

1. Brand discovery sessions and stakeholder interviews to align on exactly what you’re after.
2. Market, audience, and competitor research to make sure we’re giving customers exactly what they want.
3. Brand strategy development – including your mission, vision, and brand values.
4. Verbal identity development, including tone of voice, messaging, and even renaming your business, if needed.
5. Visual identity development, including logo, colours, fonts, imagery and iconography.
6. Brand guideline development, to ensure your team and partners keep your new brand consistent.
7. Brand activation development, to help you visualise how your brand can come to life across your website, campaigns, socials, print, and more.

Why branding matters more than ever in 2025

The rise of simple design tools like Canva, AI-generated logos and imagery, and marketplaces like Fiverr have made design more accessible, but also more generic.

AI-generated imagery or Canva templates can often be spotted a mile away, and can make your brand identity appear less established and trustworthy.

Professional branding, however, has all the thought behind it to ensure your brand works just as well as it looks – resonating with your audience, building assurance and loyalty, and adapting to every step of your marketing and brand strategy.

Many people can create visuals that look nice. But not everybody has the training and expertise to understand why certain design choices can make a measurable impact on your brand’s success. In fact, Hubspot notes that consistent branding can increase revenue by up to 23%.

Key things to look for in a Manchester branding agency

1. Proven experience and examples

You should look for agencies with a strong and diverse portfolio. Though designs may look pretty, you should also ask how the rebrand impacted the business – for example, whether it helped to solve a business problem. Strong portfolios should show a range of styles and sectors, with case studies that explain the challenge, process, and the results. 

2. A variety of expertise

Branding is never just a design task. Look for a team that blends brand strategy, copywriting, design, digital, and campaign expertise. You’ll want to find a full-service agency who can take your brand from positioning and messaging through to rollout across your website, socials, and beyond – all with consistency and purpose.

3. A human-first approach

Your agency should take the time to understand your business, ambitions, challenges, and stakeholders before making any creative decisions. Look for a collaborative process that values your input and makes space for honest, open feedback.

4. Understanding of the Manchester market

Working with a Manchester-based agency brings local insight and context. This is especially valuable if your audience is regional or if your business is part of Greater Manchester’s growing economy. An agency embedded in the local industry is more likely to understand what resonates, and where opportunities lie in the city. At Ultimate, we’re especially connected as our founder Matt and finance director Sue are both directors of K-Club – an entrepreneur network supporting businesses across Manchester and the North.

5. Clear results and client testimonials

Client reviews and project outcomes help give a wider picture of what working with an agency is like. Look for testimonials that speak to both the results and the working relationship. Bonus points if they’ve helped similar organisations to yours.

6. Strong collaboration and communication

It’s important to ask how the agency tends to communicate with clients throughout a branding project. 

• Are there regular check-ins and sign-off points for each of the stages? 
• Do they work with a particular project management platform? 
• Will you have a dedicated account manager who is available when you need them? 

An aligned style of communication will help ensure your rebrand is smooth, timely, and collaborative.

Questions to ask branding agencies

Before you commit to an agency, here are the types of questions you should ask to ensure everyone is on the same page before the work begins:

• What’s your typical branding process and timeline?
• Who will we be working with on your team?
• How will you communicate with us throughout the project? At which stages will you check in with us for sign-off?
• Can you show examples of brands you’ve worked on in similar businesses to ours? Do you have any testimonials?
• What do we get at the end of the project (brand guidelines, templates, assets, training)?
• Can you help us with brand activation or creative campaigns once the branding project is complete?

Red flags to avoid

Of course not every agency will be the right fit. Here are some red flags to watch out for:

• Agencies that jump straight to visuals without any research or discovery
• Style over substance – following design trends without a clear rationale
• Vague timelines or poor communication
• No testimonials from previous clients
• A one-size-fits-all approach. Your brand should be bespoke, never based on a template.

The benefits of choosing a Manchester-based branding agency

As we touched on earlier, there’s real value in working with a local Manchester brand agency:

• Manchester is a real creative hub at the forefront of the branding industry
• Local insight helps your brand feel more relevant and authentic to Greater Manchester audiences
• Our connections mean we may have a contact on the books if you’re looking for a collaboration opportunity
• You’re supporting the Northern digital economy and building relationships that can grow with your business

Whether you’re based in Spinningfields, Salford, Ancoats or further afield nationwide, a Manchester branding agency gives you close collaboration, strong connections, and deep understanding of your audience and market.

How Ultimate can help

At Ultimate, we help ambitious brands define who they are, connect with the right audience, and show up consistently across every touchpoint. 

From initial research and strategy to naming, visual identity and brand activation, we’ve helped a diverse portfolio of professional services, tech, charity and hospitality brands make a real impact in their sector.

Our team of brand, copy, and design experts work together to deliver great brands from strategy to execution – and we’re proud to call Manchester our home!

Ready to take the next step with your brand? Get in touch for a no-obligation chat today, or read more about our branding process and work.