Brand Strategy is an investment. You’re taking your blood, sweat, and tears, and then dropping in a little dope boy magic to create an identity that attracts perfect clients to your business like bees to honey. Getting the help of a brand strategist is key to getting a brand that works, but make no mistake:
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BRAND STRATEGIST IS TOUGH.
First, there’s style. You need a brand strategist who knows how to combine what you’re looking for with what the ideal audience is looking for, and then turn it into something that’s exactly what you need to improve your sales and client recognition.
Anyone can design a brand (if they’re willing to learn how), but not everyone’s brand concepts are for you. If you’ve had trouble finding the right brand strategist, but haven’t had any luck, here’s why making your search has been tough.
- You don’t know what you want.
Brand strategists are not mind readers. Their job is to transmute your brand into a strategic visual identity, not to make every single brand decision for you. It’s your responsibility to have a basic understanding of what your brand is about, what you’d like it to stand for, and the overall aesthetic you’re impressed by.
Bring your rough brand concepts to the table, remain open to the possibilities, and let your brand strategist get to work. You’ll see the power of strategic design when your strategist sorts out the details, makes calculated suggestions, and implements creative solutions that align with your big vision.
- You want to do everything yourself.
You don’t have the time, the money, or interest in hiring a designer. You think you can handle your brand all by yourself with a couple of stock photos and a vague request for a logo design on Fiverr or through a 99 Designs contest. Error.
You won’t have a striking brand if you cannot make the investment. I’m not saying you can’t create your own brand. You most certainly can, especially with the help of brand development programs, or with the assistance of a brand coach/consultant.
What you cannot do, however, is throw together a bunch of scraps and call that a brand. That, my friend, won’t work. You’ll end up with a patchwork quilt result, and unless you’re going thrifty and vintage, that type of aesthetic never brings in the bucks.
If you cannot afford a strategist, or any brand work, keep it simple for now. Stick to black and white for brand colors, choose a clean type, a free font that’s openly available to the public and allowed for commercial use, and focus on sales. Selling a high quality product or service can drive success and brand recognition without the immediate need for high level brand development as long as you’re consistent over time.
- Your strategist won’t let you be great.
Individuation is one of the greatest birthrights you’ll experience. It’s so powerful there are entire countries with laws against this powerful human right.
There’s no point in having a brand if it doesn’t feel like it’s something that’s authentically, yours. If you’re interested in working with a particular strategist, but it feels like they’re trying to change everything about you, run like hell. They’re wrong for you, because they’re not helping you mold your brand appropriately.
“You know your brand strategist is right for you because they don’t try to change you,” asserts Erika Lyremark, Business Design Strategist. “They help you become more of who you are – because your brand is your heart. That’s who you are.”
You need someone who not only designs in a manner that speaks to you, but who has the power to speak life into your brand through their work. 90 percent of your brand strategy is cerebral and starts in the mind before your logo is mocked up. Your brand’s intangible energy has to be understood prior to any design mockups, otherwise brand clarity is at stake.
