If you are thinking that the topic of branding can be reduced to few questions and answers only, I must disappoint you. Limiting it to a perspective of marketing is counterproductive, because it raises even more doubts. Maybe that’s how you have to navigate through this (creative) chaos. So, if we want to squeeze the most out of it, let’s start with the basics, and you’ll see what you need for a good start in building or refreshing your brand.
Clicking and typing that costs a fortune
It’s hard to talk about branding, in relation to marketing in the broad sense, without at least a rough definition. This is the first of the basic problems – there is still no common knowledge in business what branding is. They are clicking there, they are doing something, and in the end they want a lot of money for it – this is how the job of a branding specialist is commonly perceived. The second problem is spoiling the market – of course not the whole of it. This damage is done mostly by pretending to know something. But, when you have to build something, there is no room for pretending, otherwise the construction will collapse at the first stronger shock.
Branding in the perspective of marketing? In my opinion: branding is the “know”, whereas marketing is the “how”.
But, let’s come back to square one.
What is branding, or to be precise – how do we understand it
Is the fact that we are drawing a logo already branding? It’s a classic understanding, the first association. Sure, a logo, as an element of visual identity, as one of the bases of a brandbook, and it is obviously an important task for a branding specialist. But certainly not the only one. After all, we’re talking about building an entire brand (or rebuilding an existing #rebranding). It takes a strategy, it takes a complex design, it takes talking to the investor, before a good logo is released.
That’s why our starting point is the discovery workshop, where we meet the client, where we talk about what the project actually involves, what is needed to achieve the business goals and objectives.
As a branding specialist, I’m involved in it all the time – in the design, in the mock-up, in setting up the user journey through the website or the app. But the climax is the launching, the introduction of the product onto the market. There is a nice word for it – an impact, it’s a good description of the moment of a clash with the market. Because in the end, the most important thing is the validation by the market, not the excitement that accompanies the earlier processes.
The clash with the market is an absolutely essential stage. Someone may get told off, so taking it all seriously beforehand is extremely important. For this reason, working in an interdisciplinary team is a huge advantage, because there is some space for corrections, there is a chance to change the tagline or return to the starting point.
By the way, if we look at the launch of a brand from the perspective of marketing activities, and we are interested in B2B marketing, then behind every B2B is ultimately the end customer, or C, the human being. Let’s keep this in mind.
Essential simplicity
Branding should not be flashy. Well, it can be, if that’s the strategy and the need, but that’s a relatively rare situation. Most often well-understood simplicity works.
Look at a historical invention – the airplane. Its design, the technologies used in it, don’t really change or change very little. This is not because we do not know how to make the construction of a flying machine more complex. For safety reasons, we need the simplest form that works. The simpler it is, the fewer components break down. And, if something does break, there are clear procedures, known for years. The ways to make quick repairs, to react.
A release of a brand onto the market is like a battlefield where there’s no room for experiments. What we share with Wise People isn’t only being reasonable, but also being aware of the need to take risks, because risk is a part of building and changing. We are not followers of the egoistic “because I think so” style . That’s why we don’t act alone, but as a collective, where discussion is not in opposition to agility.
How long does a branding process take?
How long does branding take? It’s a good question, but unfortunately without a clear answer. Perhaps, it would be appropriate to say: it lasts indefinitely? Today, the company looks like this, but in a while trends and conditions will change. Evolution is ingrained in brand care. But, our cooperation is a project, here and now, so the customer “is not condemned to us” forever. They can act later on their own, they can come back, or maybe they will choose their own path with some other partners, enter a different scale of activities? We wish each of our clients to have a positive headache caused by the outcomes of success. And, we are happy when the cooperation is successfully continued.
A few words about rebranding
Audit.
Audit.
Audit!
It’s the key starting point in any rebranding. An honest assessment of what there is to change. Because it’s actually possible that not everything. Are we at a loss because we were able to “charge the client even more”? Well no, let’s be serious. We are building a relationship and in any relationship the basis is honesty. In an extreme case, it may turn out that although the customer feels the need for big changes, they don’t really need them (except minor ones). The discovery audit and workshop – with these we are able to honestly plan the further project.
Our difficult times are, paradoxically, the right ones to make decisions about changes. Technologies, consumer habits, economic realities are changing. The styles are changing – less print, more digital. AI – this is an extremely broad topic, for another entry, another study.
In any case, the form must be short and dynamic, to catch the attention of the customer in a flash. To be clear: this doesn’t mean less work, not at all.
Let’s not leave the customers in the darkness
It is an unforgivable sin for a branding specialist to leave a client in chaos, without equipping them with the know-how on how to work with a brand, how to take care of it, how to control it. On our part, support doesn’t only mean the willingness of developers to fix or improve a site or an application. Our support is also openness to further consultation or, most simply, education on what to do, and how to do it in specific circumstances.
In a good brandbook, we include everything – the fonts, the icons, the color scheme, but also the strategic elements or the direction for further actions. Not only must the brandbook be a clear guide for the client, but it also needs to have this function for their other partners or sponsors.
Therefore, branding done today, should fit into other marketing activities tomorrow; in other channels, out of our sight – but thanks to our work – with a positive result.
Summary
So much for introduction, because we will return to branding topics more than once in this blog. To summarize, as this is essential:
- good branding goes beyond the aesthetic layer, and a good brandbook is more than a collection of icons and logos,
- a branding specialist must be more than creative – the key is responsibility, willingness to take risks, based on knowledge and data,
- honesty and workshop work – is a good starting point to achieve the desired results with the client.
