What is Branding?

Before talking about Branding, you need to know a little about Walter Landor, because everything done is based on his legacy.

Starting with Walter Landor’s definition of Branding:

“Products are made in factories, but brands are created in the Mind”

Walter Landor created brands such as Marlboro, Levi Strauss & Co, Fujifilm, Coca-Cola and other great brands.

Have you ever stopped to think how much a brand is worth? No? Then think…. How much is a brand like Google, Apple, Microsoft worth? Hard to measure? Let us help… See the image below:

But I’m small, what do I have to do with that? Everything… It may not seem so, but in the digital and physical world people measure the value of a brand, they perceive and build expectations about certain brands. It is easy to show this to the passionate iPhone users. They are loyal to the brand because they know what to expect from it and are sure that their expectations about products and services will be met.

A brand is the fruit of a lot of work and investment. Any consumer in the world may not understand branding, but they surely don’t mind paying more for a product from a recognized brand than from an unknown one, even if it costs half the price.

The other important point is being in the mind of your consumer or future consumer. This audience has to understand what your company does and what problem it solves or perhaps what experience to expect, even more so if there is recurrence (monthly services) or repurchase in the case of consumer products. Understanding your audience’s “pain” and defining your company’s why? is the first step to the success of any business.

A case I like to cite is Adidas: a long time ago they sold all their factories and outsourced production, and the focus of the business changed, it is not manufacturing sneakers but building a Brand, they work with Branding (Brand Management) to keep it in the “consumer’s mind”, they invest heavily in technology, development and design. Manufacture? No, thanks, they send their orders to approved factories and control the quality. Obviously they have approved factories all over the world and direct production wherever suits best.

I would like to address another important topic, which in my view is relevant before hiring an agency for a Branding or REbranding process.

• Is all branding the same?
• Are all branding agencies the same?
• Is every Branding process the same?
• Are the results the same?

The answer is simple: NO

There is everything and at all prices… and that is regrettable. Due to an economy that always has problems. And also because of the competition among agencies and even the lack of knowledge of those who hire this work, everything happens in this universe.

There are agencies selling a logo as if it were branding. That is why we have a simple line of thinking. The more you know, the easier it is to know what you need and to hire right.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It will set you free and get you out of being sold a pig in a poke.

Caveat, there is nothing wrong with making a logo with a design, if that is your moment, you have no money and nothing to invest in this, GO AHEAD! But you have to pay for design work and not for the value of a branding process, so be careful.

But within this branding process there are looooots of variables, and these variables are what make up the price and, for that reason, the big price differences.

I would like to cite some differences that impact the cost and, consequently, the quality of the final result:

• Number of professionals involved in the process
• Experience of the professionals involved (junior, senior or mid-level)
• Expected time to complete the job
• Methodology used
• You
• Your market
• The scope of your company

What do you mean? Do I influence how the price is formed? YES and I’ll explain…

I don’t know whether you have an industry or are a service provider… Either way, in the formation of your sales price, somewhere you have to calculate the manufacturing time or the time to provide the service.. Nothing new, right? Well, in a branding process it is the same thing.

YOU

But what about me? Let’s go, we are almost psychologists in a Branding process, we have to be… And from the first contact we do a reading of you, your company, employees and clients. This perception is part of the cost calculation and enters as the “time” variable of the project. For example… We had a reading that the client is undecided, is not sure what they want or is not clear in the information provided or even their wishes are conflicting… Then our work becomes a little more complex.

We understand and have already proven that these clients ask for endless revisions of name, of logo, go back, complain and end up not changing the brand… For us it is no problem at all. Not everyone is prepared to change. Even if they have already lost the right to the brand and run the risk of being notified, even so they are attached to the brand.

YOUR MARKET

Imagine you have branches spread across Brazil or abroad, a Branding job is not done only with your “butt” in the chair, you have to get up and go into the field. Knowing, in this example, your branches and/or franchises is part of the process. What is the current view that your clients, employees, suppliers, partners and franchisees have of your company? Is it in line with your current positioning? Have your mission, vision and values been lost in the growth process?

You can’t manage what you don’t measure? So, in our case we need to:

“Know where we are and where we want to go.”

Sometimes it hurts a little, but it is necessary to make a good branding process. You don’t start a journey without knowing where you are and where you want to go.

SCOPE

I ended up giving away the gold in the paragraphs above, but although obvious, I will comment… If the agency has to travel to “N” places in the national or international territory, that goes into the bill.

But speaking of our FOCUS which are start-ups, small and medium-sized companies. That normally does not go into the bill.

METHODOLOGY USED

Since you didn’t ask anything, I’ll say it anyway, the Branding process is a process that involves field research, even if your business is regional, many professionals involved and many coffees and dark circles. To simplify, we don’t use the same Branding process for a start-up that we use for a small company or even for a mid-sized company.

We have in mind 3 packages that can serve anyone regardless of company size.

What basically changes is the time, number of professionals involved and client requirements, besides the selected options.

There on the home page there is a button where you can simulate the branding price with no commitment. Take the test!

OUR BRAND

After this wall of text, I couldn’t fail to talk about our BRAND, if you notice, the branding work has a very specific goal, being in the consumer’s mind, our brand was designed for this, we believe, like Walter Landor, that everything happens in the MIND and it is every company’s wish to have its BRAND in everyone’s mind.

I have talked too much, although I skipped many subjects and points, so as not to make it even longer…

If you have any questions, get in touch.

My name is Edison Antunes and I am the CEO of Mind Brand and I am here to help you.