Why Brands Should Look and Sound Good
Your business brand, logo, name, presence, whatever you want to call it, is perhaps the single most important and fundamental component of your business. We often come across clients that aren’t interested in paying for professional designs and would rather spend the money on something else. Some companies take matters in to their own hands and play around making their own logos using a “graphics” package, or Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher. Creating a logo that makes an impact is absolutely vital, but that’s just the beginning. The biggest, most successful companies in the world dedicate whole teams to maintaining a consistent image and the results are evident. Ultimately, the choice is up to you, but here’s why it’s good to get some help along the way, even if you’d prefer to save some money.
Why it’s important…
Your business brand IS your business. Your clients associate themselves, and other things with your business brand. In fact, a logo forms the foundation upon which every other design for your business is built. For that reason, it’s important to consider size, shape, colours and future uses for your logo. A logo should grow with your business. For example, you may wish to print single colour envelopes when it comes time to printing your stationery. If you haven’t got a single colour variation of your logo, this can become tricky. If your only option is to print the logo in full colour, you could find yourself spending money unnecessarily. You may also want to get your staff uniforms embroided later on, but a Microsoft Word file just won’t cut it. Similarly, you may wish to get signage made up, but discover you need a vector version of your logo. You may know all about these things, but what if you don’t?
While it’s good to plan for future uses of your logo, it’s just as important to understand the implications it can have on your business, and on your sales and marketing. Logos say a lot about who you are, what you do and how you do it. If people don’t associate your products and services with your business brand, you’re already out of the race. Similarly, if people don’t get a good feeling when they look at your flyers, brochures and associated marketing materials, they’ll more than likely go somewhere else. For this reason, it’s absolutely critical to get it right, and do it properly. There are no shortcuts when it comes to your brand and image.
Doing it on a budget…
Finding the money to spend on your company image can be difficult. In fact, a lot of companies don’t budget for it. While you may not have tons of money to spend on your designs, it’s a good practice to at least bring them in line with the general look and feel of your business. Your standard colours and typefaces are critical. Your clients associate your company with your corporate fonts and colours. The combination of the two are what define your company image and brand. If you’re working on a strict budget, instead of paying a designer to do hours and hours of work and buying stock photos, get them to spend half an hour tidying things up and getting them in to order. Prioritise what’s important, and give your designer a clear brief and set of instructions. This is especially important, as it can save you a ton of money, and establishes a perfectly clear understanding between yourself and your designer.
Seeing the results…
It’s often difficult to see the benefit in spending money on your company image. While it’s all good and well to say “that’ll do, let’s go with that!”, that very statement is often the very flaw that causes businesses to miss out on bigger opportunities. Consumers generally choose aesthetics over the quality of products. A well marketed product, good photography, smart tag lines and a good choice of complementing colours are the very key to being one step ahead of the competition. While the results may not present themselves overnight, they’ll almost certainly make a difference over time. The key in marketing and brand recognition is consistency. If you don’t believe us, just consider some of the biggest companies in the world, and look at what they’ve done with their image over the years. Give us a call or shoot us an email if you’d like some help with your company image.