Hiring A Branding Company 101

If your company has a good product and a hungry market for that product, you're closer to success than 90% of the rest. But to take that final step, some of the most successful companies in the world have hired a Branding Company to craft their company's brand image into the sales and loyalty-generating machine it needs to be.

How have these successful companies--take your pick from the Fortune 500--found these branding companies? There's no one-stop resource or fail-safe formula. Fact is, finding one worth its salt is exceedingly difficult. But if you're going to take your brand to the next level, there's no way around it--you need one. So, here are some things to remember when you're out there on the hunt:

1. Know your needs and have an idea about how you'd like them met. This will give you the self-knowledge you need to better gauge the work of the branding agencies you'll encounter to determine if they really can deliver what you need.

2. Go ahead, be a fan. If you admire the branding efforts of a certain company, call around and find out who did the work.

3. Go with a referral, not a blind hire. Canvass your contacts. This is always better than hiring someone with no frame of common reference. If they left a favorable impression on one person, chances are it's a trend, not an exception.

4. Throw a few companies a bone & see what they do with it. Give them a general question or problem scenario. See how responsive they are and how much time it appears they put into crafting their response. This isn't the same as asking for free or speculative work, which is bad form. Don't do that. Rather, this should give you a preview to how they think and their work ethic...and whether they would really value your business and do a good job for you.

5. Money isn't taboo. Once you've found a company you'd like to work with, discuss it from the outset. It's better to agree on financial terms from the start than for either of you to be in a precarious position somewhere down the line. This may start with a simple question, like: "What's your budget?" or "What would you typically charge for this kind of work?" If they ask you, give a number if you one in mind, but don't pull it out of nowhere. Be sure you've educated yourself on the costs involved with the kind of work you need, and don't expect them to give you a discount just because you have kind eyes. If you ask them, try to be specific. Ask how much it cost to produce a specific project in their portfolio.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Your Business Logo and Color Scheme
My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them.
Good Logos Make Great Sales Tools
Every day, the average person is exposed to millions of visual stimuli including hundreds of company logos.A logo is a unique visual image that represents a company or its products.
What is Private Franchising? It is Nothing Someone Made It Up
The Federal Trade Commission has an obligation to the general public, their stated consumer education mission and to the over regulated franchising industry and the small business operators running Biz Ops to separate the two business models by way of legal definition. Any failure to completely separate them will trigger additional problems down the road and cause the current on-going process of rule review to continue, without any formalization for decades.
Logo Design - Branding - Brand Identity Guru
Do you have any idea how important your company logo is? Well you should. It appears on everything from your corporate identity system, brochures to your website, reaching customers, prospects, vendors and the press.
The MOST Expensive Mistake You Can Make
Most people who own a small business have a huge passion and talent for the product or service they provide. Some people have a business degree.
Is It Legal? - Indecent Naming With Tradition
When Mitsubishi launched a new car with the name "Pajero" on the Spanish market, it became obvious very soon that the name chosen was not optimal because it immediately was the subject of jokes due to its homophony with a Spanish expression related to masturbation.The same happened to Ford's model "Pinto" (Portuguese for male genital) in Brazil where it was quickly renamed into "Corcel"(horse).
Does Your Message Pass the Test?
Develop an effective benefit message and you're well on your way to building your company's entire marketing program. After all, you need focus to create success.
Branding Services - Brand Identity Guru
Branding Services is a tactic that marketing executives and managers should not only understand, but also employ. Branding services helps your company clearly position your company over your competition by branding your product/service in the minds of your target markets.
Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value
Companies work hard building the strength of their brands - it is critical to the ongoing brand management process to have meaningful and actionable data-driven measures of these efforts.Building a brand, cultivating its strengths, pruning its weaknesses, and making it more valuable to its owners is the bottom line job of marketing.
Brand Components
Your brand is the culmination of everything about you and your business. It is how people come to know you.
Branding 101: Why Its Critical to Business Success and How to Do It Right
What's Your Brand?A brand is a product/company personality that helps distinguish it from the competition. It evolves out of the product essence.
What About Me? What You Need To Know About Me-Marketing
What about me? Are you asking yourself this question? If not you should be. Don't wait until you are in crisis mode when you are losing your job or your business before you think "what about me?"Here are a few points to consider.
John Deere and NASCAR; Excellent Use of Brand
We should all recognize the marketing efforts of John Deere especially as we have spoken before with regards to their TOYS. They have a complete line of nearly every tractor or agricultural attachment they make available in small, micro size.
Branding Mistakes - Brand Identity Guru
1. It "sells itself.
Creating Powerful Names for Products, Services, and Your Business
The name of your business is important--it's one of the first things potential customers know about it. And having unique names for each of your products and services can be a powerful selling tool.
Boston Brand Building - Brand Identity Guru
"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir your blood..
How A Crazy Branding Stunt Can Bring Results For Years
As a beginner, you would be forgiven for thinking that marketing is simply advertising your product or service, how wrong you are.Marketing is the art of allowing people to know that your business exists.
Nike / Sears / Kmart
The Sears-Kmart merger hopes to fabricate some sort of silver lining for both retailers but instead seems to embody the inevitable philosophy of "going down together." Kmart, an already sinking ship, certainly worsens conditions for Sears, and Sears does not have a strong enough current to keep Kmart afloat when there are enterprises like Wal*Mart and Target constantly blasting holes in the stern with brand messages of "smart and classy.
Living Your Brand on the Web - Part 1
OK, so you took the plunge and purchased your internet domain. Good for you! Now what? According to Google.
Internet Branding
Having been in the franchising business all my life and understanding how hard it is to build a brand, I have probably read every other popular book on the subject. Some are good and most are excellent, as each one helps give you ideas on setting the stage for your brand marketing objectives.