Your brand is your promise, and it’s important that you build it thoughtfully and deliberately. Branding is more than creating a good looking logo, creating a Facebook business page and uploading it all over social media with a catchy tagline. To create a real brand identity, you have to invest a lot of time and effort.
There’s ample research that needs to be conducted, you also need to clearly identify who your competitors are, what your business is aiming to achieve and what makes it stand out from the rest. Most importantly, you need to know your brand story and how that resonates with your offering and potential customers.
Here are three common mistakes to avoid;
- No Solid Strategy
Brands aren’t simply plucked out of thin air—they’re rooted in the company’s business strategy. All of the design elements, from the logo to the colors and typography, are carefully selected to align with a company’s mission and goals, to attract their target audience, and to set them apart from the competition.
Rushing this process and picking elements simply because you like them, may not give the desired result. The thought should be about what your customers like, opposed to yourself.
- Focusing On Form Over Function
You’ve taken the time to invest in your logo and you have the prettiest branding that anyone has ever seen, however your message isn’t clear to your customers as your brand identity is like a cypher.
Any time you’re making a brand decision, just take a step back and ensure it supports your users rather than getting in the way of them engaging with you entirely.
Consider focus group testing any new designs to receive genuine audience feedback – users will always be honest with you, if too honest at times!
- Spending Too Much / Too Little On Branding
You get what you pay for in the design world, a very cheap option will require you to fully direct the project and having to spoon feed the designer. This won’t bring into account any audience feedback and can lead to you having to re-brand in the future.
On the other hand, you want to ensure that your branding agency are focusing on just that, and not running off on a tangent. When working with your branding agency, set clear goals, have a structured timescale and work together to achieve the best branding possible.
I’ve Made Mistakes With My Branding, Now What?
We have shared a few of the branding mistakes that you should try and avoid at all costs, however you might have already made a mistake and are looking for the best way to rectify any issues that you feel might be affecting your brand. Here is the good news, Squibble can help with a rebranding strategy that will help you identify all the key elements that your brand will need to consider for future success.
Should I consider using a branding agency?
Many companies assume that rebranding is something that can be handled by their internal marketing team. How hard can it be to design a logo and write some core messaging, after all?
The fact is, even the best marketing team isn’t equipped to make the objective, big-picture strategic decisions a rebrand requires.
Here are a few benefits to working with a branding agency:
- An Unbiased, Strategic Approach: A branding agency gives you an objective, big-picture assessment of your brand and the competitive landscape in which it operates this is achieved through discovery sessions.
- Cross-Industry Expertise: Branding agencies bring experience in industries other than just your own. This type of fresh perspective is often essential when trying to meaningfully differentiate your brand.
- Proven Expertise: Your branding agency has likely worked on dozens, if not hundreds, of rebrands before yours. This means you’ll be sure to get your rebrand right the first time around.
For a fresh perspective on your brand, contact our team today.
