Anatomy of a brand: Monday.com

The day is finally here.

The dream jacket you spent months saving for has arrived, perfectly packaged and screaming for you to open it.

So you do…and it’s amazing.

Beautiful design. Fits perfectly. The packaging even contains a personalised little note (nice touch, right?). 

“I’ll definitely be buying from these guys again” 

It’s then that you notice…

There’s a rip in the sleeve.

No biggie though. These pros will get this sorted for me in no time. Right? 

WRONG.

Ring ring…ring ring…(15 minutes later) “WE’RE CLOSED. CALL BACK ON MONDAY’’ (and they hang up).

Cue shock, horror, outrage at the obvious obnoxiousness.

But why is it so surprising? 

It’s because it’s not on brand.

The thing is, your brand is so much more than a pretty logo and a few taglines. It’s made up of lots of different working parts that all need to work together as one. 

And if one of them isn’t in alignment (like rude customer service), then it can ruin a brand in one fell swoop.

A successful, outta-this-world brand needs it all (yep – we’re greedy like that).

So let’s take a close-up look at one of our faves…drumroll please… Monday.com.

What makes them the brand success story that they are? What makes up their brand DNA? And what makes them…them?

Monday.com: Who are they? (as if you didn’t know)

Simply put, they are the hottest project management tool around.

A cloud-based software system that does, well, pretty much everything: planning, organising, tracking, automating – all in one beautiful, visual, shared space.

Monday.com were formerly known as Dapulse. And when they changed their name, they switched things up with a new logo too.

They have a banger of a product. And we know it’s true because we use it and love it at TCC. One big, beautiful tool – with collaboration at its core.

One by one, businesses have breathed huge sighs of relief across the globe (especially on a Monday).

But how do Monday.com stand up and make themselves heard in the saturated market of project management software?

Let’s find out.

The design

There’s no skirting around it: Design has its work cut out.

It’s got to hold your attention amidst all the online visual noise. And then make you stick around long enough to actually tell you something.

So what do Monday.com do right with their design?

• Use of colour
  

Colour palettes are crucial. Research has shown that they can increase recognition of your brand by up to 80%. Monday.com have cleverly chosen the traffic light colour system as their main colours. Their tool is all about being visual, so these colours immediately show whether something is “Done”, “Stuck”, or you are “Working on it”.

• They’re direct

   

And it’s a huge part of their power. They know they have a great product, so rather than use smoke and mirrors, they put it right out there, front and centre.

• Bright and cool logo

   

It oozes progress and professionalism. The lines in the logo make up a subtle “M” (design genius). And it’s also perfect as an app icon, so when switching to mobile, they’re keeping up strong brand consistency.

• Clean design

   

The site is clean and friendly – whilst being professional. Which is a pretty hard thing to pull off. It’s also intuitive and clear where things are and what you have to do.

• Engaging animation

   

It’s worth a special mention. The logo, typography, and colours have been stripped back, which leaves room for the clever use of animation to inject a whole load of Monday.com personality into the design (which offsets against the serious side of the software).

• A true digital native

   

It’s safe to say that the need for their brand to work in print form is limited, so they designed their brand to live online. It’s easy to read in small sizes, interactive, and instantly recognisable.

The tone of voice

So we get that design matters. But it’s not all about looks, you know.

I mean, it matters. But other things matter too.

Like personality. How they talk to you. What their values are. (No? Shame on you – get outta here.)

A solid brand TOV needs to be crystal clear and watertight. A mix of your values, ethos, and what you’re selling.

Words have power. Words have personality. And most of all, they will make your brand memorable. If your brand voice sounds tired, your customers will pick up on it.

Here’s why we love Monday.com’s TOV:

• Snappy, direct copy

   

There’s no messing around. They know their customers are busy and that they need a no-nonsense tool that’ll just get stuff done. No long jargony copy (hey waffly marketing, we’re talking to you).

They tell you exactly who and what they are.

• They involve the reader

   

They talk to the user directly and ask questions throughout the copy, which creates a conversation – and ultimately, a connection.

• Brimming with trustworthiness

They build trust and transparency with clear and powerful language with words and phrases like “boost”, “drive business impact”, and “maximum productivity”.

They use impressive and active statements, so customers know that their product is damn good and that they know their stuff.

• Keep it consistent

   

A big one here. They keep their TOV consistent throughout (and the design too for that matter). It’s another key factor in building trust and loyalty with customers. In fact, according to Lucidpress, consistent brand representation is thought to increase revenue by 33%.

• Compelling testimonials

   

Their testimonials are impressive. For example, “Monday.com saves us 1,850 hours of staff time and $50,000 a month,” says the Senior Director & CTO at Oscar Health.

On that alone, we’d sign up right now (if we hadn’t already).

Their audience (and how they align with them)

This is all about making a connection.

You want to understand your audience. What are their pain points? What are their hopes and dreams?

And this is how Monday.com nails it:

• They get their audience

   

Their customers have limited time; they’re busy and stressed. So Monday.com have created a product to make their lives easier.

• They emanate strength

   

From the initial contact to the ongoing comms, they deliver the knowledgeable support that they market themselves for. So their audience trusts them to get it done.

• They put their customers first

   

A brand’s customer service is key to its success. And just look at Monday.com’s reviews. Not to mention the fact that it’s most loved by customers on G2 (not an easy rating to achieve).

NOTE: Think back to my damaged jacket at the beginning of this post. While the product was great, the illusion of the brand was completely shattered by customer service that sucked.

The difference with Monday.com is that the very core of their brand is about helping and supporting people (they’ve won awards for it).

• They’re surprisingly affordable

   

  And include the offer of a free trial, which will always align well with customers and businesses.

• They champion inclusivity
  

It’s at the centre of their values. They believe that diversity makes their teams and products better. Which we think make them pretty damn great (and so do their customers).

The platforms they market on

How do they reach their people? This matters. When a business connects with its customers, consistency and creativity are vital to the brand’s success.

Here’s how Monday.com put themselves out there:

• Their blog is a (very) active one. They are clearly major influencers in their field. Their posts show they understand their audience’s pain points and what they want to read about.
• They’re big on socials – Facebook, LinkedIn, Insta, and Twitter.
• They make themselves known on Reddit ads.
• They’re all over billboards and public transport. It’s the more traditional marketing vibe, but imagine the effect a problem-solving Monday.com ad would have on a stressed-out commuter waiting for their Tube.
• They use ads on Spotify and YouTube, which gives them access to a much larger audience. Considering that Spotify has 422 million users per month, you can see the appeal.

Key takeaways

So….

It’s pretty safe to say that where Monday.com are concerned, we’re massive fan-people.

They’ve nailed the TOV, their design is faultless, and one of the overriding things that holds it all together is their consistency.

Think about it: A friend mentions Monday.com to you, then you see an ad on LinkedIn, and then a billboard ad on the way home. You check it out that evening and yep, it reassures you. It resonates with you. And you sign up. Job done.

In every one of their touchpoints there is clearly a lot of time, thought, and research that goes into making the customer experience a unique and spectacular one.

But when you can do all of that, in a subtle and seemingly effortless way – that’s when the real magic happens.

Love you,

Konrad