April 11, 2009

Branding can reduce marketing and design costs

By: William Levins

Good branding is flexible enough to accommodate creativity without sacrificing brand recognition. Moreover, when done well, branding helps creativity by focusing thought on messaging and results rather than spending budget on the graphic design of each deliverable. It's why we preach to our clients that branding can reduce marketing and design costs.

When we approach rebranding for a client - we take into account a lot of factors: the competition, the industry, and existing perceptions (by management and customers). We evaluate what's working, what's not and then develop a brand strategy that will help to achieve our goals. It's an extensive and intensive process that can be an expensive investment for clients of all sizes.

It's why we always carefully alleviate their fears by explaining how in the long run, careful, well thought out branding will save them marketing and design dollars over time. Of course, we also outline the other significant benefits of branding, but cost can be an important factor for clients, especially during tight economic times.

It's very simple to explain. After an initial investment in branding (and/or positioning), marketing and design budgets can focus on the message, the offer, or the medium rather than on designing and inventing each piece.

By providing a framework for visual identity, brand continuity is achieved and brand recognition begins. And eventually, provided you're doing things correctly, positive brand equity accumulates. Of course branding isn't simply visual, but it's an important part of the brand experience. Most outbound marketing will utilize some type of visual communication, such as brochures, billboards, direct mail, or print or TV ads.

If your design team is reinventing and creating new artwork for each of these mediums - they'll spend a lot of time (and your budget) designing each deliverable. Your message is chaotic, your designs are scattered, and your brand...well, it probably doesn't exist. But if you've implemented a branding program that manages your visual identity, designers have guidelines that will direct their design approach and allow them to instead spend time on crafting the right message. The end result - marketing communications are more consistent, they're better thought out, and they reinforce your brand with each deliverable.

The time normally wasted on designing each and every piece is instead shifted to a thought process of how to better communicate your brand and its benefits instead of spending time trying to reinvent this each and every time. By focusing the design process, you get better results, a better brand experience, and you reduce the time spent on design itself.

Ask a designer to design one brochure or postcard each month and it'll cost you more than if you ask them to design 12 items all at once. And by doing it all at once, you'll get a more cohesive, well thought out "series" that has continuity. The same is true with a brand - if you think critically and carefully during the branding process - you achieve a marketing and design savings after the fact - with the benefits of a successful brand.