A well designed brand is intangible so a lot of people don't see the value in spending money on it. It's not easily measurable for ROI over a short period of time. Small business in particular, which limited budgets and time, often don't realize the long term value in spending the money for a good brand solution. Paying for branding doesn't bring immediate measurable results, which most business owners are looking for. It's hard for them to see long term value.
I have been reading through these comments and it seems to me some are getting 'art or logo' work mixed up with 'branding'. Although people do associate your logo with you it doesn't necessarily represent Your Brand. It truly is the value you add to that logo that counts. What is it that you want people to remember about doing business with you, --- service, honesty, integrity, friendliness, making the customer feel like they matter - customer first? We used to build businesses on reputation and now everyone is tying themselves to the word 'Brand' rather than quality and service you can trust.... I think businesses need to really focus on the fundamentals of building a 'Brand Reputation'. They would generate the resources required for the artwork they really love... Remember if you are building Logos to Brand someone, your customer should only pay for work that they love, the reputation and brand of the artist should precede him/her and price will almost never be the issue.
I think we are getting branding mixed up with marketing. Any brand will not go as far as it is marketed ... The Nike brand was sold for under $40 .... now its worth over 13 billion. You can have a well designed brand worth thousands of dollars with lousy marketing, its not worth a dime.
Sacha and Debi said it… it's hard for people to believe in the long term value. And it takes time and work, work up front. Another issue is that everyone is a designer now. There are all these tools like Canva, Pic Monkey, Free icons, etc… and people think they can do it themselves. Why spend thousands when this is good enough for now.
From my experience, most small businesses want to put effort and the respective costs into productive work for customers. They see costs placed into the business itself as unproductive; just money up in smoke. Having been a small business owner for 20 years, I can appreciate that thought line a little. But I learned early on that a small but fair amount of time and budget can pay off greatly in the branding area
Occasional marketing is an expenditure. Continuous marketing is an investment.
Some people (not most) do not see the value of a well-designed brand because they don't want to take the time to go through all the steps to get it. They are looking for short-term results, they spend a lot all at once, and when they analyze the results, they realize it's not that much profitable, most probably because the strategy was wrong or insufficient, and got discouraged to keep going that path and stop investing into their brand. This is a simple as that.
A well-designed brand is hard work. You don't build a well-designed brand all at once, you build it over time. This may be a bit more investment, but in small bursts, not all at once! One day you take two steps forward, the next you take one step back, and so on. But when you take time to do it, at least you build something to last. This is like everything else!
Don't expect to build a rock-solid house in one day, it is just impossible. You need to set the foundations first, then raise the walls and add the finishing touch only at the end. Same thing for a brand: create a logo that will last 15-20 years (which you won't get with only $500 investment!), design consistent communications (so important), have a thought-out sales pitch everyone in your business will stick to like a Bible, and be fair with your customers by treating them the same way each time they do business with you. And keep doing it! Then you will see the benefits and value of that well-designed brand, and its strategy behind it.
Everyone has different taste...for one person it is a masterpiece, that same design can be seen as trash by another...I try to make classic timeless designs...forget trends...they last too short...Tell your customers...If people are remembering and being impacted by the brand...then your design did it's job....and there is the value.
I think it goes beyond seeing the value - most business owners, particularly small business owners, want things cheap. And while a well-design brand may elevate their brand above their competition in the long run, they are only concerned about the short term - getting the sale and getting new customers. The way technology has evolved, it has enabled businesses to have the tools to create their own marketing and design, good or bad, and taken their need for professional marketing and design out of the equation. It's our job to help them see that value and what their brand could be vs. what is is now.
I think people in general don't and can't see what goes into design of branding. Unless something is specifically asked for pertaining to that, I don't think they would ever really know. I've have known some people to forget their sign for their place of business till the week they open thinking they could go somewhere and have it done by the next the day. We have all been conditioned to the fast-food society. It's not just hard for people, they can't see it.
Answers (1-10)
A well designed brand is intangible so a lot of people don't see the value in spending money on it. It's not easily measurable for ROI over a short period of time. Small business in particular, which limited budgets and time, often don't realize the long term value in spending the money for a good brand solution. Paying for branding doesn't bring immediate measurable results, which most business owners are looking for. It's hard for them to see long term value.
I have been reading through these comments and it seems to me some are getting 'art or logo' work mixed up with 'branding'. Although people do associate your logo with you it doesn't necessarily represent Your Brand. It truly is the value you add to that logo that counts. What is it that you want people to remember about doing business with you, --- service, honesty, integrity, friendliness, making the customer feel like they matter - customer first? We used to build businesses on reputation and now everyone is tying themselves to the word 'Brand' rather than quality and service you can trust.... I think businesses need to really focus on the fundamentals of building a 'Brand Reputation'. They would generate the resources required for the artwork they really love... Remember if you are building Logos to Brand someone, your customer should only pay for work that they love, the reputation and brand of the artist should precede him/her and price will almost never be the issue.
I think we are getting branding mixed up with marketing. Any brand will not go as far as it is marketed ... The Nike brand was sold for under $40 .... now its worth over 13 billion. You can have a well designed brand worth thousands of dollars with lousy marketing, its not worth a dime.
Sacha and Debi said it… it's hard for people to believe in the long term value. And it takes time and work, work up front. Another issue is that everyone is a designer now. There are all these tools like Canva, Pic Monkey, Free icons, etc… and people think they can do it themselves. Why spend thousands when this is good enough for now.
From my experience, most small businesses want to put effort and the respective costs into productive work for customers. They see costs placed into the business itself as unproductive; just money up in smoke. Having been a small business owner for 20 years, I can appreciate that thought line a little. But I learned early on that a small but fair amount of time and budget can pay off greatly in the branding area
Occasional marketing is an expenditure. Continuous marketing is an investment.
Some people (not most) do not see the value of a well-designed brand because they don't want to take the time to go through all the steps to get it. They are looking for short-term results, they spend a lot all at once, and when they analyze the results, they realize it's not that much profitable, most probably because the strategy was wrong or insufficient, and got discouraged to keep going that path and stop investing into their brand. This is a simple as that.
A well-designed brand is hard work. You don't build a well-designed brand all at once, you build it over time. This may be a bit more investment, but in small bursts, not all at once! One day you take two steps forward, the next you take one step back, and so on. But when you take time to do it, at least you build something to last. This is like everything else!
Don't expect to build a rock-solid house in one day, it is just impossible. You need to set the foundations first, then raise the walls and add the finishing touch only at the end. Same thing for a brand: create a logo that will last 15-20 years (which you won't get with only $500 investment!), design consistent communications (so important), have a thought-out sales pitch everyone in your business will stick to like a Bible, and be fair with your customers by treating them the same way each time they do business with you. And keep doing it! Then you will see the benefits and value of that well-designed brand, and its strategy behind it.
Everyone has different taste...for one person it is a masterpiece, that same design can be seen as trash by another...I try to make classic timeless designs...forget trends...they last too short...Tell your customers...If people are remembering and being impacted by the brand...then your design did it's job....and there is the value.
Me too. I've been a professional designer for 25+ years. It just I see so much bad design out there, and people seem to be getting used to it. :-)
I think it goes beyond seeing the value - most business owners, particularly small business owners, want things cheap. And while a well-design brand may elevate their brand above their competition in the long run, they are only concerned about the short term - getting the sale and getting new customers. The way technology has evolved, it has enabled businesses to have the tools to create their own marketing and design, good or bad, and taken their need for professional marketing and design out of the equation. It's our job to help them see that value and what their brand could be vs. what is is now.
I think people in general don't and can't see what goes into design of branding. Unless something is specifically asked for pertaining to that, I don't think they would ever really know. I've have known some people to forget their sign for their place of business till the week they open thinking they could go somewhere and have it done by the next the day. We have all been conditioned to the fast-food society. It's not just hard for people, they can't see it.