Piper Blog

When people think of branding, they often think of just a logo, or a business card. Or they think of the opposite of the extreme, such as Microsoft or Nike, and assume they will never have the budget to ‘brand effectively’.

However, great branding is easily attainable if you put the right thought and effort into it! Dispelling common branding myths is the key to starting that process and transforming your business.

Myth No. 1: Branding is hard

Branding isn’t rocket science, it just requires focused thought about what you want your business to stand for, and then a communication of that message visually and experientially.

There are steps to follow in building a good brand strategy, but once it’s built, you are never ‘done’. You need to be constantly vigilant and check your materials, business practices and customer service to ensure your brand is clear and consistent.

Myth No. 2: Branding is expensive

Good news, effective branding can be done on any budget! The real key to effective branding is making sure you have defined - in detail - your ideal audience and that your business messages speak directly to their needs and the benefits they value.

Once that’s done, you can work more effectively with a designer to determine your logo or website experience to craft your website messaging.

It’s not how much money you spend promoting your brand, but clarity and consistency in messaging (visual and verbal) is what makes that brand effective and creates fans. So if you can only spend $200 on a logo, you can still ensure that it communicates exactly what you want, to who you want to reach.

Myth No. 3: Branding is just fluff

Brand equity can make or break a company. Just think of private-equity firms that “buy” brands for millions of dollars, all for the brand cachet or loyal customer base.

That’s the reason people will pay three times as much for a white t-shirt at David Jones than they would at Target. Brand translates into bottom-line sales when done effectively.

Myth No. 4: All designers are the same

All designers and branding firms are not the same. Although you can save money by thinking through a brand strategy on your own, before you engage with a designer on communicating anything visually, some designers get it and some don’t.

For example, if you are talking to a designer who does not ask you who your target audience is, or what you are trying to convey to them through your visual elements - and only asks what colours or concepts you like - run the other way!
Though you might only spend $100 on a designer and think it’s a bargain, you will lose much more in sales and customers by not communicating the right message visually.

Myth No. 5: Branding works immediately

People need to experience your brand multiple times before it sticks. You need to have it out there, present in all your customer touch points, before deciding whether it works.

Branding is about awareness and “mindshare” - the spaces you occupy in people’s minds when they see your logo or hear your name. That takes time to build. The Nike swoosh had no meaning during the first three months after it was introduced.

Yes, if you get feedback that things are not working, you should make changes, but hopefully you will have put the up-front thought and effort into the brand strategy and messaging before implementing it, so that only slight tweaks are required.


Chat to you soon,

Emma Baker
Marketing Assistant

Inspired by: marketingprofs.com

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