Shattering Branding Myths

Branding Myth #1: I don’t need a brand.

Yikes. Yes you do! If you’re in business, you need a brand. Think of it as a business essential, like your phone or your bank account. You can’t very well do business without those, can you? If we learned anything from the branding alphabet, we discovered how branding affects us all. If you want space in your customer’s mind, you need a brand. End of story.

Branding Myth #2: I can create my own brand.

How do you feel when you’re handed a laser-printed business card with a perforated edge? Or you’re given a brochure printed on a home ink-jet printer? People notice quality. If you want a snappy brand identity, you need professional help.

Even if your alter ego can create paintings to rival Picasso, so much more goes into branding than good art. Think about logos for a minute. A great logo doesn’t simply look good; it must be scalable, meaningful, and symbolic. It must match the rest of your brand identity and work well in both color and black & white.

Do you do your own corporate taxes? Diagnose your own diseases? Some jobs are best left to professionals. Branding is one of those jobs.

Branding Myth #3: It’s too expensive.

While hiring a marketing and design firm to create your marketing materials and help brand your company may come with a surprising price tag, consider the costs of not hiring a professional. Amateur work may come back to haunt you in the form of fewer sales and less repeat customers.

We’ll bust more branding myths in our next few posts. Stay tuned.

How much does branding really affect you?

Earlier this week, I read an interesting lesson plan posted by Carrie McLaren at the Center for Media Literacy. Armed with PowerPoint slides, she walked into a room of high school seniors and asked them to identify several plants and trees in their Brooklyn neighborhood.

Silence.

She then put on a slide of the alphabet comprised almost entirely of brand logos. Without fail, the group of students named them all.

I’d be willing to bet you can name most of them, too.

Still think branding doesn’t affect you?

Crazy as it sounds, we are a branded culture. Not unlike the seared hides of cattle, our psyches have been indelibly marked by corporations and businesses salivating over our dollars. Even the youngest among us has no problem identifying those golden arches.

You’d think the sheer variety of brands would do us in, that the average consumer would have no way to keep this all straight. Our brains only have so much room!

But no, once branded, always branded. That’s why they call it branding.

So, what’s your brand? How are you leaving an indelible mark on your clients and prospects?

Cross-posted at the Full Moon Design Blog.