How Brands Waste Money On Logo & Design Aesthetics
3 Things To Understand Before You Hire A Logo & Brand Designer
Remember taking that infamous test where the last question directs you to go back and read the instructions? You realized how much time and energy you wasted after reading that you could simply answer the first question and be dismissed.
What if I told you that most brands waste time and money on logo and marketing collateral?
Don’t get me wrong! Having a strong, aesthetically pleasing logo is absolutely necessary – especially since my business Mance Multimedia specializes in branding design.
However, the problem is that most brands jump to the logo design process without first understanding what their brand identity is. Here’s what you and your brand, personal or professional, should do BEFORE you hire someone to design your aesthetics:
1. Determine Your Brand Value by answering 3 simple questions:
- What do you do?
- How does it make my client/customer’s life and/or situation better?
- Why does it matter?
2. Identify your target audience through marketing research:
Whether you look at patterns from data collected from your current customers, poll new audiences, or pay an intern to comb through census reports, you need to create a detailed description of what your target audience looks like – and what it doesn’t look like.
The more information, and the more specific that information is, the better.
3. Identify WITH your audience by understanding which archetype fits your brand (Video Below)
There are 12 general archetypes, of which each have distinct characteristics. It’s important to understand how you appear to your target, and how your target wants you to appear to them. For example: Duracel utilizes the “Hero” archetype, which positions itself as “the best.” Those who are drawn to hero brands embrace them because they make they feel like a hero. The IT guy want’s to make sure the presentation goes well, so he buys batteries that last longer than other brands of batteries.
Now, you can start designing your logo and other brand aesthetics.
Branding is about controlling every aspect of how someone connects with you company, so that they will perceive you in the way that you intend for them to. If you want to come off as a strong company, but your logo is perceived as soft or weak, then you have missed the mark.
We would hate for you to get a year into your branding process, and realize you’ve missed the mark. Many businesses are quick to get a logo, and proudly dive right in – hoping that their logo design is so pleasing their business is automatically successful.
They then feel silly, realizing that they answered all of the questions before reading the instructions….
Mance Multimedia has helped develop and design brands with $500K+ budgets, brands with $30M+ revenues, and brands with budgets and funding equaling $0.