I tell my clients all the time,
“If you’ve come to me for a great price on a logo and your plan is to grab it and go on your way then I’ll do it for $50 bucks”.
I tell them this because I have a philosophy and an understanding of the relationship between a brand experience and a consumer that I have come to embrace over my career. My sentiment comes from a good place and admittedly I tend to wrap it in a bit of drama to get attention, but the point is simple: my logo design will not save your company.
I am a brand strategist & consultant first and a designer last. The act of ‘branding’ is an all encompassing act for any product, service or company. From the logo to the new hire training materials, your brand should be procured and managed. To assume you can ‘set it and forget it’ is dangerous. The fact is, you have a brand already. Every company does. What you can not ascertain is the magnetism of your brand, the direction of your brand or the long-term strategy of it. People that you do business with are developing deep psychological imagery of who and what your products and services are to them at all times and if you’re leaving it up to luck to define, you may end up losing out to competition.
Great brand experiences are the result of endless attention to detail, research, testing and repetitious creativity. It’s also that ‘something’ that can enable you to charge more for your products or services than the competition while actually BUILDING market share.
Your logo is the foundation and the hero of your entire brand. It is and should be valued, but if your efforts stop at that…then the value never achieves fruition. What would Nike’s brand have become without those great ad spots, the tagline “Just Do It” or …great shoes? Meticulous planning, foresight and strategy grew the brand to what it is today.
*My inspiration for this piece comes from Fastcompany.com today. Please check this article for more on the subject matter:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1745884/how-to-build-an-unforgettable-smashable-brand-identity-hint-its-not-the-logo
