A Logo Maker Is No Brand Shaker
Choosing the right team to create your brand can be overwhelming with agencies, freelancers, and online logo generators all swimming around in the same space. How do you know which is the right to go with and what is the real return on investment of branding?
Online logo maker websites and visual asset generators are the affordable option, but they won’t fast track your brand to the coveted ‘mover and shaker’ status. By immersing ourselves in the whole branding process, us bears are able to deep dive into your purpose, mission and vision, and create a strong brand story that is expressed clearly across all of your key marketing touchpoints.
To be a future unicorn, startups need to start off right. And for established companies, staying relevant amidst all the disruptive startups taking up the space around you is key. The right branding will make you stand out, and it put you in the right position to speak to your ever evolving audience.
Branding is much more than just a logo design, and the more time spent on it at the beginning, the bigger return on your investment. It can be hard to draw a straight line from branding to your bottom line, but it can be done. And it is worth it. Because, your brand is your company’s greatest asset.
77% of B2B marketing leaders say branding is critical to growth.
Branding needs to be strategic and consistent. It isn’t just a logo, and it’s not a luxury either; it’s a necessity.
As Marketing Managers, Founders and CEO’s, there is not nearly enough time in the day for strategically thinking through colour palettes, typography, logo design, or tone of voice. Yet, stakeholders expect to see a polished brand that stands out from the rest and has huge growth potential. Unearth the world of market research and semiotics and you’ve got a whole other beast to tackle.
Investing in branding and brand strategy early on, future proofs your business for growth.
We’re entrepreneurs ourselves, and can’t rate a good ‘teach yourself reading list’ high enough, but it’s important to weigh your options against their return on investment potential. That is why we’ve tried to simplify this a bit for you. So you can take what you may from our agency experts, and hopefully go to your next marketing budget meeting with more confidence.
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The ROI of Branding
Ignyte Branding
Let’s explore the differences between branding and logos…
Branding
Branding is a big archetypal word us branding agencies use. But if it’s more than just a logo, what exactly does it include? Creating your brand involves defining your core values, purpose, mission and vision. Establishing your value proposition. And from there, exploring the limits of your tone of voice, and the visual developments that go along with it all.
Logo Design
A logo is a communication tool; one of many in the branding process. It is a visual cornerstone for your brand that will consist of an image and maybe some text. It is your first go-to brand promotion tool. Be bold and be clever with it.
Okay great, let’s get to it.
Branding can up your conversion rates, increase your pricing, boost customer loyalty, and make you famous. Let’s break down how.
Show Us The Money
Brand Value
Powerful brands consistently outperform in the market. If you’re bold enough to capitalize on this by investing in your branding, you will have a much higher chance of outperforming your competitors.
Ocean Tomo released a head turning study in 2017 that showed over the past 40 years, the vast majority of the value of the S&P 500 had transformed from tangible to intangible assets. In 1975, intangible assets made up 17%, and 45 years later in 2015, that skyrocketed to 84%.
Intangible assets are things like intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights). But they also include brands.
Pricing
A successful brand will command premium pricing. Pricing power is a huge factor when considering the ROI of branding. If your power goes up, so can your prices. And who automatically holds the power, even at times frustratingly so? Strong brands.
“According to a large study by Millward Brown analyzing consumer habits, strong brands can capture, on average, three times the sales volume of weak brands.”
This is the power strong brands wield. So, tap into it.
Long Term Return
Customer loyalty can have longer lead time, but it is proving increasingly more vital in today’s market. People want a brand they can believe in whole heartedly and that fully aligns with their values transparently and with bravery. Give them that reason to believe.
Plan of Action
1. Skip the logo maker that came up on your search for ‘branding tools for entrepreneurs or startups’. It wants to help you but it can’t ever guarantee it will. Many of the logos they create are very generic and similar to one another which keeps you from having successful ownability and memorability of your brand.
Side note, every brand we have created has landed their investment and a proven ROI, but we can come back to that once you’re ready.
2. Feel antsy because you just ditched the logo maker.
3. Go back to the ideas stage. Think about your brand name, values, what you look like, and what you sound like. Think about your mission, your vision and your lovely proposition.
4. Refine and hone in on these pieces of your brand identity. What value matters most? What does having a ‘humorous’ tone of voice actually mean to your brand specifically.
5. Now you can start thinking about the visuals.
6. Go to the experts. They really do know what to do.
Brand Mentors
Oatly
Look at Oatly. I mean, how can we not? In three years, Oatly has transformed from a dull food processing company into a bold challenger brand. Their before and after is fearless and proves how impactful branding can be. Their recent campaign have used their unique typeface to great effect and without even showing their logo, their marketing campaigns are immediately recognizable and very memorable.
CD, John Schoolcraft says “if you’re not willing to stand up to the big boys and show a different way, you just get lost, you end up in the 90% of the companies that are scared shitless.”
Karma
The food app revolutionising the food waste issue in London, Karma, is another emerging unicorn startup to take note of. By looking, speaking, and acting the part, they have caught the attention of thousands of commuters on the rush hour tube, and the budget for that advert didn’t come out of thin air. By presenting investors with a killer brand that was already pulled together and attractive to its customer base, they weren’t going to be told no.
Their branding showcases their core values to reduce food waste and promote a more sustainable lifestyle.
Monzo
The words on everyone’s lips: “My year in Monzo said this, that and the other…”
Monzo is a pretty sparkly example of a unicorn startup. Even with other award-winning competition like Starling in the banking space, Monzo is doing Monzo, and it continues to work.
The Monzo logo design is a memorable emblem, but when you think of Monzo, do you think of their logo first? We think of the coral pink bank card, and their playfully transparent tone of voice, maybe even their relatable social media animations.
Times are rapidly changing. We’re here to help your businesses through these uncertain times and would love to help brainstorm ideas with you.
Give us a call on 020 3176 8975 or drop us a line hello@whitebearstudio.com