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There are so many articles on this topic that I hardly believe another one is necessary. In fact, if you’re in business for yourself – or in the business world at all for that matter – you may be doing your best to choke back on that lil’ bit of vomit that just came up! Yeah, I know, the topic has been done to DEATH, there is no question about it. What I am going to attempt to do is attack the subject from a slightly different angle and maybe (hopefully) churn out an original idea or three!
First of all it is very tempting for me as a graphic artist to think of “branding” solely in terms of creating a “cool” logo. Unquestionably that (the logo) is a HUGE part of branding, but as any expert will tell you, your logo is only a piece of the puzzle. Going forward in this post when I mention ‘branding’ I’ll be referring not only to a company’s logo / graphic representation but anything and everything that can be, and is associated in the mind of a consumer to a given company/corporation/small business. These things include – but are not limited to – the company’s colors, their stationary, the uniforms the employees wear, the type of service they are known for AND their logo (of course) - you get the idea.
So, why is Branding important? Well, if you’ll consider stretching your imagination a little bit for me, I’d like to ask you to think back to your high school days! That may not be a pleasant idea for some folks, but bear with me for just a few minutes. Undoubtedly you can recall some of the “popular” people from your class. Heck, you may have even been one (if not, you probably tell your kids that you were..). Hopefully you can remember at least one popular person that you liked! You know, that kid that was actually popular for all the “right” reasons…charming, funny, good listener, good friend etc.
Hold the phone!!! Those descriptive terms I just used (charming, funny, good listener, good friend) were that persons “brand”, their “corporate identity”, their “corporate suite”. Those descriptive terms were that persons “McDonalds” Golden Arches”, “Coca-Cola”’s color scheme and font, “Nike”’s ’swoosh’ etc. In other words they are the very reasons you liked this person and what immediately comes to mind when you think of them. THIS is what makes “branding” so important! This is why large corporations pay thousands of dollars to have advertising firms create their ‘look’ for them.
Further, this is why I strongly urge people that I talk to that need a logo for their business (yes, I know I said ‘logo’) to NOT
a.) go on the internet and find some free clip art! (you may laugh but you’d be surprised!) or,
b.) have their ‘gifted’ nephew draw one up! (I have no doubt that nephew “Myron” is an artist in utero)…thats not the point!
What IS the point you say? You say, “c’mon you are a graphic designer…you have an agenda in telling me I should buy an expensive logo from you!” You say, “if I buy an expensive logo then people like you make a lot of money.” BINGO! Sort of. I’d rather be upfront and tell you that of course I am looking out for my pocket book – and the pocket books of those in my profession. I feel that needed to be addressed, else it would have been the proverbial ‘elephant in the middle of the room’. Now lets move on…
Ask yourself an honest question:
Would you let the designer of this website: http://www.lisajackson.biz (ironically, a person in the business of helping people and businesses brand themselves…a web-designer herself – but I digress). If you would then great, no need to read any further. If you wouldn’t, then WHY?! What does this persons website – in this case their “brand”, say about them? I am not going to go into what I think personally, this is for you to answer. By the way, I am not trying to be mean…I am trying to be real. You (probably) wouldn’t bank with a credit union whose logo was a stick figure of a man holding a wallet, you probably wouldn’t shop at a toy store whose image made you think of banking!
In short, what you project out onto the world with your “brand” is what people link to you psychologically. I know that sounds heavy, but it is true. It is the reason why the “big boys and girls” shell out the big money for branding, and, to an extent at least, why the big boys and girls ARE the big boys and girls! They know – or at least their marketing team knows - what potential clients want (need?) to see in order for them to become actual clients. This is why your “brand” is so important…it reaches people on a subconscious level and influences them to see your business in a way that you (and your designer/art dept/marketing team) help to carefully craft.
If you wouldn’t do business with a company that “looks bad”, what makes you think anyone else would?
