Learn More About Branding Your Company
John Williams, co- founder of LogoYes.com, is featured on Entreprenuer.com
as its Branding Columnist. To read more of John's articles on design
and branding go to "About Us" and click on a topic. Other publishers
of John's articles include:
The Original Do-it-Yourself Logo Site
You make your Logo. Then we'll make everything match.
Choosing a Branding Professional by John Williams Copyright 2007, John Williams
When you decide to start a business, you're faced with a number of critical
tasks, many of which may fall outside your core areas of expertise. The
thoughtful creation of a branding strategy is likely one of those "what do I
do?" situations.
Working with a branding professional can be the key to getting your business
started on the path to success. Individuals who specialize in branding can
provide invaluable counsel to you, guiding you through the complicated
process of identifying the central focus of what your business stands for,
something that must happen before you begin execution of any branding
components.
Where's the Value
A branding professional will evaluate your business (typically using
your business plan as a guide) and assess the marketplace before
recommending image elements. You may retain someone to merely assist you
with visual branding (i.e., logo, typestyle and colors) or you may want a
branding professional to help you with everything related to branding, which
includes not only visual elements, but things like how the phone is answered
at your business and how your product is packaged.
When's The Right Time
Believe it or not, it's appropriate to begin working with a branding
professional even before you name your business. After all, what you call
your business will be a major branding element. Consider the genius behind
the Apple brand; branding professionals certainly played a hand in creating
that memorable moniker.
Since defining who you are is an important part of branding, it's
important to have a branding professional on board before you secure the
help of other professionals such as website designers, graphic artists or
copywriters. This is a smart business decision that will save you money; you
must have a well-defined central message before making an investment in
website or collateral development, or you’ll find yourself endlessly
revising your materials.
How Do You Choose
The best way to select the branding professional who's right for you is to
do a sweep of companies in your industry and see which ones you think have
done the best job of communicating their values. You'll want to look at
things such as whether their collateral and website have a common look and
feel, and whether the overall tone of their message is professional and
succinct. Then, ask them who is responsible for their branding.
If you're not comfortable with that approach, you'll want to carefully
research people and companies noted as branding professionals. They will run
the gamut from small printers and web domain providers that claim branding
as a subspecialty to public relations and advertising firms. Since their
work will have a direct reflection on the success of your company, you want
to ensure the person or company you enlist truly has the expertise to
provide knowledgeable counsel.
What Will You Pay
It's impossible to provide an accurate guideline for what you'll pay for the expertise of a branding professional. Your price tag
will depend on two components: the level of involvement and expertise you require.
If you wish to limit your branding professional's involvement to visual elements, you may be able to limit your expenditure to a few
thousand dollars. As you broaden the branding professional's involvement, your price tag will rise, and it could go as high as
hundreds of thousands of dollars. The price will also depend on whom you choose to employ; agencies may often bill at a higher rate
than sole proprietors, for instance.
As with anything, you generally will get what you pay for in the branding arena. Since the future of your company is at stake, you
can certainly consider it a prudent expenditure to hire the best branding professional you can afford.
John Williams is president and founder of LogoYes.com, the world's first and largest DIY logo website. In his 25 years in advertising,
he has created brand standards for Fortune 100 companies like Mitsubishi and won numerous international awards for his design work.
