Know-How Exchange : Branding

Maybe you have a quality company or individual to bring on board to work on your client''s branding. That way you can feel confident about collaborating on the total project.

Just because a company is big, doesn''t mean it''s good.

If you''re confident in your work and relationship with said client, I say to go for it! It could be the start to great future projects of this kind.

Dear RT,

As one graphic designer to another, my thinking on this is that your key here is investment. As the current designer YOU are invested in the work, and in the longer term relationship with the client [and rightly so].

I've worked as a graphic designer for 26 years and I understand your feelings about a larger branding shop coming in and "taking over". Been there. Done that.

As for copyright, and as far as I'm aware, you as the designer, retain all copyright UNLESS you signed over all such rights to your client in contract form. That said, you need legal advice on this issue that I'm not qualified to offer.

What I AM qualified to comment on is the notion and concept of branding. As for the big name branding agency and what Mr. DeepPockets wants, well, first of all, what he sees as profit potential and what the market will bear and support are two different things. Unless he's got some kind of divine gift or some kind of series experience in a similar niche, what he thinks is just his opinion. He's welcome to it but merely by dint of having money and the gift of speech and the ability to convince people to do his every bidding simply because he has money, none of this makes him right.

In the short term, and with just one store, and until that store is up, running, driving sales, covering its costs, and bringing in a healthy profit, until then, ANY talk about wider-reaching "branding" efforts from Mr. DeepPockets or the owner is a waste of time and effort.

Let's be clear here: regardless of the amount of money or education they're in possession of, most people's understanding about the concept of branding is WRONG.

The core concept and the essential meaning of "branding" has BUGGER ALL to do with design, color, logos,
and typefaces. That's corporate identity—which is not just a different animal, it's a different SPECIES.

It could be that Mr. DeepPockets knows about funding [and if he does, bully for him]. That said, what he THINKS he knows about branding and what branding REALLY means are likely to be as far apart as night and day.

The origin of the term "brand" refers to a red hot metal iron being seared into flesh. A brand, then, is indelible. It is PART of the person. A tattoo is a brand: it's PART of the person wearing it. In terms of commerce, a brand is something that connects DEEPLY in the mind of the consumer, buyer, and user. This kind of brand may not use a red hot iron to burn into flesh but it does sear itself into in long term memory but ONLY by virtue of its ability to connect with a deeply felt need, desire, or emotional itch. Because of this, deeper, more meaningful branding does not—CAN NOT—happen in the real, tangible, measurable world.

The kind of branding Mr. DeepPockects is talking about IS a larger project that DOES need more critical thought and application. Why? Because it's based upon wider degrees of perception about just what it is that the store in question stands for, who it serves, who its customers are, and who they ASPIRE to be. That said, there is NO REASON at all why you cannot position yourself at the forefront of this larger goal. Why? Because you are INVESTED in it. As the designer you have lived it, breathed it, sweated it, and bled for it. You SEE the ideal customer in your mind's eye and you position every facet of your work as the LEAD CREATIVE because you and ONLY you have the vision to direct, guide, and steer the look of the store so that it appeals to the kind of buyer that is the store's ideal REPEAT buyer.

You don't have a problem, you have a HUGE opportunity.

This treasure belongs to you. Screw intimidation!

You already know the lay of the island. You already have the map. You already know that "X" marks the spot and you know where "X" is. All you have to do to claim that treasure is to be bold enough to stand your ground when the pirates row ashore and fend them off.

Then, all you've got to do to claim your prize is to dig it up and get it back to your brig before the tide turns. The sun is about to RISE and that treasure is yours for the taking. Don't bury it.

Gary Bloomer
Princeton, NJ, USA

You might say that my firm is a big "branding agency" in that we've done brand work for several of the Fortune Top 50. And we've done it all without a designer on staff.

As Gary says, branding is not mostly about design. One of the deliverables on our branding projects is the Creative Brief we give to the designer so he or she can communicate visually the brand positioning we define. When a client insists on OUR handling the design aspect of a branding project, we simply sub-contract to a qualified designer. (We have a few that we think are pretty good, but we're not married to them.)

Maybe that's the approach you should take. Support the concept of going to a top branding agency, but ask if it would be possible for you to have a shot at the design challenge coming out of the branding project.

And if the investor doesn't have a favorite branding agency already lined up, maybe you can be part of the team that selects the right agency.