I’m starting to work at an online product company, which only recently upgraded its marketing department. I will be the only creative there for the time being, so I guess I will be in charge of brand maintenance as well taking the brand to the next level and setting the foundations for a creative department, which will hopefully grow further along the road.
If there are any forum members here who went through a similar process in one way or the other and are willing to share their thoughts, insights, inputs, tips etc. I would really appreciate the help. Actually, any piece of advice would be great.
Where would you start? What would you focus on? How would you do it? Please feel free to offer whatever you find relevant.
I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the matter.
honestly im looking at creating a Branding marketing firm, which focuses on online marketing and design work… id recommend searching for chris do on youtube.
You’d best scroll through the forums to find some tips and advice. As nkots mentioned Chris Do is a somewhat well known go to person to learn about that particular aspect in the graphic design industry. I wish you the best of luck!
If they don’t have them already, start building branding guides and templates. Make a library of images that can be used for marketing and get really good at filing product images for retail.
Work on the branding guidelines, so that every department is using them. You’ll always want to make sure you have all the templates, logos, and other branding assets created, approved, and saved in all usable formats (print, web, interactive/video). Finally, you’ll want to figure out your process in which you’ll work, for example, figuring out how creative requests come in, your revision approval process, and final sign-off.
Over the years, I’ve had three jobs where I’ve needed to build or establish a new creative effort or team from something that either didn’t exist before or that needed a huge overhaul.
Each one of those situations differed, so I don’t think there are rules to follow that always apply. But here’s one: unless you’re working for a bassackwards company or supervisor, you’ll have a honeymoon period to establish the foundation of things that will be much more difficult to change down the road than they are at first. Someone, though, has seen the need for what you have to offer and that person is your ally who wants you to succeed.
That being the case, you need to establish what your job is, how it will help the company, and then just behave like you were born to be in charge. It’s unlikely that anyone will hand you the keys to your kingdom and get out of your way, so you need to establish where those boundaries lie yourself, then just behave and show competence as though what takes place within those boundaries is a natural part of your domain built around your expertise.
I’m not suggesting being a jerk. Nobody likes a jerk and you won’t get very far with that approach. What I’m suggesting, instead, is working with people, letting them know you’re there to help, and then doing so in a manner where it’s just sort of apparent to everyone that you’re the leader and the doer in this new aspect of the company that never really existed before.
It’s a longer-term effort, but it’s a whole lot more fun building things from scratch than it is trying to change an already-entrenched system.
I have been having the same thoughts myself.
To be honest, what excites me the most about this role and what I’m truly curious about, is being a pioneer and exploring things which indeed did not exist there before.
I’m hoping i’ll do a good job balancing between establishing those boundaries and being a true team player.
It has been an eye opener, Just-B. Thank you!
