Branding is everything! I repeat...branding is everything! It is your company's face and personality. It's the first impression to get across who or what you are and do. Your branding must be consistent, professional and always maintained. The most successful companies have clear branding. Don't believe me? Let me name a few...Target, Coke, Chick-Fil-A, FedEx, McDonald's. Their logos are instantly recognizable by font (Chick-Fil-A), color (Coke Red) and symbols (McDonald's "Golden Arches") or icons (Target "bullseye").
I urge you to make the decision early on to invest in your brand, marketing and company appearance via professional graphic design of things like logos, print materials, social media marketing or what ever you do professionally. If you don't you will regret it. Or worse yet, doors you need to get through may never even open at all because of the first impression of your brand. Your brand = you.
When I'm hired to create a logo or brand for a company people always look at me sideways when the first questions I ask are...What's your company's personality? Characteristics? Beliefs? Likes? Dislikes? Face? Feel? Look? They are thinking something along the lines of...shouldn't you be asking me what colors I want to use, font preferences, do I like modern vs. edgy design, white space vs. color, a circular or square logo, etc. The twist is, the personal questions answer the design questions. They dictate the direction of creating a true brand/logo. Back to Chick-Fil-A as an example...on the surface, it's just a red colored, font logo. Simple and easy to recognize, but under the surface, it's a play on the words "chicken fillet" referencing them being the first chicken fillet sandwich retailer and the letter "A" referencing the grade A top quality chicken used. As a company's personality though...WHO do you know Chick-Fil-A to be? Here's a reference of what I'm trying to get across on the personality to business conversion.
Chick-Fil-A is:
- personality: professional = business: grade A chicken, ingredients and service
- personality: helpful in the community = business: fundraiser nights, kids programs
- personality: nice = business: employees are well trained and polite
- personality: clean = business: high dining room and serving standards
- personality: innovative = business: drive-thru lines run seamlessly
- personality: respectful = business: employees say "my pleasure" instead of "you're
welcome"
- personality: spiritual, committed = business: closed on Sundays to allow workers to rest
even though it costs them profit...or does it?
All of this is to say...YOUR FIRST STEP IN STARTING A BUSINESS IS THIS! Sit down and figure out what the answers to these questions are for you and your business before you start another thing. Then, don't make another decision, be it company colors, name, logo, business cards, etc. going forward without checking it against your answers. That is how you create a brand and stay true to it.
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