Don’t Do These 6 Things While Branding Your Business
There’s something really exciting about branding your business. Or nerve wracking, depending on who you are. You’ve got your business idea down, as well as a sense of who you are. You’re ready to make some bold moves in your industry, and now it’s time to unify all this strategic thought and ambitious energy into a strong brand identity that would make anyone want to swipe right.
As a multidisciplinary team with diverse backgrounds, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to branding: from creative breakthroughs and perfected logos, to baggy eyes and fights over triangles (let’s not talk about it).
We’re a band of self-proclaimed entrepreneurs, with scratchy stubborn sides and strong opinions about the things we are passionate about. This was evident in our own company branding efforts over the last few months. Putting ourselves through our own strategic processes and evolving who we are, we know how uncomfortable and rewarding branding can be.
Now here’s our post-mortem on what not to do.
Don’t Do These 6 Things While Branding Your Business
1. Don’t hold back.
Brand exploration is all about getting it all out there and refining along the way. The people on your team will most likely have competing opinions and perceptions, and you may struggle to express yourself at some point. This is natural — the best brands align with what feels innately and viscerally good. Lean in to your words, opinions, emotions, and gut reactions. This is what guides an authentic brand.
Every first draft is rubbish. So say what you think and don’t hold back — even if what you put forth doesn’t quite fit the perfect picture of who you are trying to be. You may just surprise yourselves as you align on who and what you are.
2. Don’t start with the grandiose.
Everyone wants to sound big and bad — nuanced, sophisticated, and bold. But getting down with your bad self takes time and a lot of layer peeling to uncover who you really are.
At ABC, brand building starts with getting to the core of your business: articulating who you are, what you do, and how you do it. The art here is to simplify your language as much as possible, without losing the essence of your identity. So when you’re in the beginning stages of branding, the more straightforward you are in your articulation, the better.
If you’ve got jargony, scratchy verbiage, you’re not there yet. Keep pushing yourself in your thinking, and always consider if you can go one level deeper. Start small, and build big — in a sustainable way.
3. Don’t have too many designers on logo duty.
You know what they say: a camel is a horse designed by a committee.
Despite every designer on the team being able to internalize the brand, it is not a smart idea to have them ALL work on your new logo. Some things, like a logo, are better left in one person’s hands so that things don’t turn Frankenstein.
And we get it. Sometimes teams change and other work tasks take priority. If you can’t avoid having multiple designers work on the logo, make sure things don’t get lost in translation by clearly communicating the vision, the feel, and the heart of the brand when transitioning over.
4. Don’t fall in love…with your words.
Your new brand is likely coming with a lot of new branded copy — whether it’s in a new website, marketing materials, or tagline. Word-riffing is fun, and you’ll likely come up with a lot of cool ways to communicate who you are, what you do, your philosophies, and your major brand messages.
But make sure you zoom out and see how your words fit together as a whole. Is there a unified message? Are there competing metaphors? Does certain word imagery not fit with brand design? Question everything, and don’t be afraid to give some favorite sentences the boot.
5. Don’t just copy and paste in a new logo.
Your brand is more than your logo. It is the very essence of your business that must be baked into everything you do from the beginning: your design, your product development, your communications, and your culture.
Your brand can’t come to life if it’s held back by existing structures (digital or physical) that just don’t reflect your new identity. It goes much further than replacing your logo on the website, or changing the colors on a business card. The new brand requires a diligent refresh which requires a diligent rethink.
Take into account every place your brand currently exists and re-envision how things could take shape with the new brand personality. You’ve got to be the brand champion, so make sure to take ultimate care of its application.
6. Don’t look back.
Only a dog goes back to its own throw up. Once you’ve got your brand down and it’s time to launch, be sure to make the full switch. Trust yourself and your creative team that you’ve done all the work, turned over every leaf, and finessed every last pixel.
There’s always a little anxiety and hesitation around introducing a new brand and look, but take the leap and flip the switch. Just remember to think through moves when the brand is still new.
Once you’ve got the hang of it all, hang tight easy rider. Pretty soon you’ll move from a trike to a Ducati and ride off into the sunset. Brapp brapp.
Let the bolts of thunder fly.
ABC Design Lab
Part brand design firm, part product development team, ABC Design Lab advances the way businesses are born and evolved. As a team of artists, scientists, and strategists, we build brands and digital products that emotionally and intuitively connect.
