Identity Branding for smaller companies: is it necessary?

[huckfinn]

I've read several internet sources that swear that identity advertising is a waste of money. So, how important is brand recognition - and why?

When I say "identity advertising," I mean branding and things like awareness campaigns.

For example, say I'm a carpet cleaner. Would a brand help me get more business or is it just an expensive illusion that doesn't yield more business?

What do you guys think?

[reuber1]

I think it's one of the key factors...honestly, if you are flat out phenomenal and the rest of the competition simply blows, then yeah it's probably irrelevant. But how often is a sole business the dominant local empire? Chances are you've got competition, who may be just as good as you if not better or worse, depending on whether you're having a good day or bad day. You need to stand out, differentiate. I can't elaborate much further, I got another call, dammit.

[Logo-Mechanix]

One word, Nike.

Seriously though if you are a carpet cleaner and you are fighting for business with several other local carpet cleaners and you spend the money to have your logo advertised all over town and the other guys do not. You will most likely get more business and they will not. That is why having something like a logo that people will identify with you is very important.

[BJMRGTIVR6]

If I saw an ad or an envelope with a company name on it and either a Microsoft Clipart logo or just text as a logo, I might toss it out. However, if I saw an ad or envelope with a "real" logo on it I would look deeper into teh ad or open the envelope.

A whole identity leads to a greater acceptance of a legit business. When you see a letterhead, envelope with a good looking logo on it, it will appear more professional, whether or not it really is a good company or not.

A small company need not spend a fortune on an identity but should spend a worthwile amount. Compare it to any other part of the business, if you need to spend $5,000 on tools, $20,000 on a vehicle, $3,500 on computer and software, it makes sense to spend more than $50 on an identity but not spend $250,000 on the identity.

Identity advertising where you only have a nice header, a great photo and your logo will not work well for many businesses, especially small and start-up ones. Usually star-up businesses are offering a product or service where you need to explain the product/service in some form of detail to get the idea of what the company has to offer. An ad for a Pepperdge Farm cookies might just show a cookie the logo and "Indulge yourself tonight." and it would work well because the consumers already have an idea about their cookies. they have already built a brand image where people associate rich/good tasting cookies with PF.

hope that helps a bit. People judge a book and most things by their cover first.

[urstwile]

I think that a lot of it depends on the competition out there for similar types of companies. For example, someone mentioned Nike. Good example, there are tons of people making sneakers out there, but Nike took their brand and made it instantly recognizable and memorable with their branding and identity. Someone else mentioned carpet cleaning. Well, heck, in my phonebook, if I go to the entry for carpet cleaning, there are lots of entries. What distinguishes one from the other? Your recognition odds are probably higher with more niche industries like say, for example, Dead Fly Cremation Services, but if you're surrounded by lots of competition, whatever you can do to make your company stand out from all the rest is probably worth it.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

You want to be seen and remebered, therefore brand away!

[captain spanky]

put it this way... we've just moved into a new house and we've been under a deluge of flyers for local indian/italian/oriental food take aways... the ones we have stuck on our fridge are the ones with a nice, professional, clean, easy to navigate, design to them... all the others with clipart of chefs and 'zany' moped delivery people are in the bin. Maybe i shouldn't but i equate shitty flyers with shitty food in this instance.

Depending on the company, part of my head will always think,'if they can't spend a bit of time and effort on presenting a good image for their business, what makes me think they will do the same for their service/product?'

[Samakimoto Graphics]

...Maybe i shouldn't but i equate shitty flyers with shitty food in this instance.

Depending on the company, part of my head will always think,'if they can't spend a bit of time and effort on presenting a good image for their business, what makes me think they will do the same for their service/product?'

Well put Spanky ;)

[colonel5]

When I say "identity advertising," I mean branding and things like awareness campaigns.


I've had a lot of these same discussions here at work and have done endless hours of research to convince the owner of our company not to waste money on brand awareness and "identity advertising".

When you are a small business branding, awareness, identity campaigns are totally useless. This doesn't mean you don't put the money into having a good logo and well designed ads, business cards, etc but the kind of advertising you're talking about is totally useless for a small business.

Lets say you're company is called JohnnyCake and you sell purified water in those big containers to offices, homes, etc. & Let's say you drop all of your ad budget on getting just your logo (which mind you is a very good logo) on the side of your 5 delivery trucks. People aren't going to care or even know what your company does etc so they will immediately dismiss it. If you were Culligan and did the same thing it would make sense since you associate the brand Culligan with delicious water because of their reputation so seeing Culligan on a truck makes you aware of their brand .

As a small business you first need a fan base (strong list of clients) something about you that sets you apart that you can distinguish and relay to current and potential clients and to have everything they are seeing be visually pleasing and very attractive so that the design only enhances rather than takes away from their experience of taking the time to look at your ad, literature, business card, website, etc. Your logo alone won't do much if anything if your company isn't common knowledge to the majority of people.

Too many small business owners put their money in the wrong places when it comes to logos, design, advertising, marketing, etc. Their initial thoughts are "well if Culligan did it this way they must know what's going on because their company is so successful" they don't think through the fact that the company is 100 times bigger than they are and therefore require different marketing strategies.

I could continue this response and propably write a whole paper but I'll stop for now.

[jlknauff]

When you are a small business branding, awareness, identity campaigns are totally useless.That is such a small minded statement. It holds as much water as saying that accurate accounting or efficient operations don't matter until you are a big company. The fact of the matter is that is you want to be a big & successful business, you have to conduct business as such. You can't wait until you are successful and then start doing things right - you will never get there that way.

[Vikia]

If you are content to be found by your customers by "luck of the draw" and the chance that they simply find you on their own... then branding is not necessary.

If you want to create a playing field where you are standing above your competition, the chance that you will be "found" by your customer is significantly better. Branding is creating that playing field.

There is no company large or small that cannot gain from being on the high ground of the playing field. Effective branding is not a waste of money if it accomplishes that goal.

Not all branding is effective. Ineffective branding is a waste of money and should be avoided. How do you know if you are creating effective branding? Now that takes some real thought...beyond design. That takes a different skill...marketing.

You can create the best identity in the world and if it is not marketed correctly, placed where it will create that playing field to your advantage, it will be insignificant and lose the ability to be effective as an identity. Effective branding is creating a market in your customer's mind for your identity to exist and standout from your competition. It has the ability to make your customer relate to you and "feel" they know you (good or bad). Effective branding will retain that aura whenever the customer encounters your identity.

[carter the artist]

I think it depends. Do you want to stay a small company? Do you want to struggle? Wouldn't it be nice when someone thinks it's time to clean their carpets, that it's time to call you? But how are they going to think of you? They won't. Because you thought, gee it's stoopid and expensive to brand myself, that only works on tennis shoes and in the movies.

Now, if you had been working hard and spending the money it takes to get your name out there, consistently and with a "brand" that is professional (which makes people trust you, and not make you look like a fly by night operation), and what not,... then when people need carpets clean, they'll instantly think of you.

Quick test.

Think in one word quickly:

Fast food.
Shoes.
Car.

Did you think major operations? Say, McDonalds, Nike, Ford? You weren't thinking hole in the wall restaraunt, generic shoes, a kia?

[Logo-Mechanix]

I work in the promotional products industry for my fulltime and they do alot of studies in branding and identity as you can imagine. I remeber reading a statistic that went something like a potential customer has to see your name 12 times before it sticks. I would imagine no company started out large and successful, but they sure would not have gotten that way without successful branding and advertising.

[huckfinn]

Just for clarification, I'm a copywriter with a little tiny bit of a design background. I'm asking this question because I want to give my small clients thoughtful advice on branding. I know it's not as simple as "This company's large, so they need branding. This company's small, so they don't." But I kinda wanted to understand what you guys thought (and "why") so I could understand the need for branding better. Your comments have been really helpful.

[rose-o]

There are good points on both sides. No matter what size your company you must have a WRITTEN, THOUGHT OUT PLAN! Whether this plan is going to cost you $200 or $200,000 there needs to be a plan to get or brand or identity to the customer in a positive way. It's about telling your story. I REPEAT: "IT IS ABOUT TELLING YOUR STORY!" When a person opens up the yellowbook for the first time and sees four ads for carpet cleaners it is the story (or the feeling) you are selling to the customer, not the service. They know all four companies offer close to the same services, but it's the story, the feeling, the brand, the image that they are making a choice about (and paying for).

[huckfinn]

"IT IS ABOUT TELLING YOUR STORY!"

Perfect. I love it.

[G-Man79]

You want to be seen and remebered, therefore brand away!
Exactly. I often judge the legitimacy of a business simply based on the id/web presence/ad comp. Maybe it's just the designer in me but I know a lot of non-designer types and they usually respond better to businesses that have a strong id. My two cents for ya.

[colonel5]

I agree with what a lot of you are saying but I think you guys are missing the point from the original post here. Just because Identity advertising for small companies is a waste of money doesn't mean that having a good identity is.

[huckfinn]

So branding is different depending on who the company is. In other words, you might have someone who's trying to strengthen their existing client base - not go after new clients. In that case, maybe they're already branded: their clients already know them. They may want to strengthen their brand with a redesign or something, but they're already branded.

So everyone whose name is out there is already branded to an extent. If someone knows your name, they have some impression of you (that impression is your brand).

[huckfinn]

I agree with what a lot of you are saying but I think you guys are missing the point from the original post here. Just because Identity advertising for small companies is a waste of money doesn't mean that having a good identity is.

Good clarification. I guess that's what I was asking (albeit, without really knowing that's what I was asking). :)

[Vikia]

Branding is the total perception and experience you create in your customer's mind when they encounter your identity.

When someone sees the Hilton logo for instance...do you automatically think of a roadside motel or do you think of an upscale hotel. Do you expect to receive all the ammenities and be treated with class by the staff? Do you expect to find an efficient room with a TV and a loud window air conditioning unit. I may never have done stayed at a Hilton hotel, but I have preconceived ideas of what to expect based on the brand that they have built.

When you see the Walmart logo, do you think of high quality merchandise and expect to pay for that quality and feeling great because you spent more money to get a percieved better material good that you can show off to the Joneses or do you think you will be surrounded by bargains with prices being slashed before your eyes and feeling great because you saved money.

Branding is the total experience the customer comes to expect in relation to a company.

You want to guide that perception through effective branding.

Even the carpet cleaner should want to give himself an edge in his market by being known as ie., the company that cares about the customer so much that they screen their employees so that the customer need never worry about outsiders coming into their home during this over the top security minded era. Or maybe you want to be the carpet cleaning company that is known to value their customers time so much that their job will be free if they show up late for their appointed time.

Word of mouth is an important factor in marketing, but what will people be saying about your company. What are the preconditions you want to set in your customers mind before they do business with you?

Smart branding campaigns marry the company logo with the perception you want to achieve. And by making all identity placement decisions based on that perception consistently.

[budafist]

I would start off with awareness first rather than straight out branding.

Difference?
Coupons, vouchers, advertisments in mail outs and newspapers.
As opposed to posters and billboards that simply say your name and a slogan. Before you want people to memorise your logo, you need them to know what you do!

[Vikia]

I would start off with awareness first rather than straight out branding.

Difference?
Coupons, vouchers, advertisments in mail outs and newspapers.
As opposed to posters and billboards that simply say your name and a slogan. Before you want people to memorise your logo, you need them to know what you do!

Here is where you can start your branding campaign. Your coupons and newspaper ads should be a vehicle for delivering the perception you want to create along with any sale/special information.

Branding does not have to be expensive to impement, it just needs to be consistent enough to stick. After receiving 10 to 12 mailings with a consistent message, chances are that when a customer encounters that company, they will have an expectancy that was placed in their mind by the consistent brand message.