Top 5 Branding Agencies in San Francisco — July 2024
A list of the best brand design agencies and brand consultancy firms in San Francisco, CA, and the SF Bay Area
Last Updated on July 2, 2024
No matter how little attention they pay to your branding, every organization and public figure has a brand — so it’s wise to invest some time into ensuring yours is heading in the right direction. Yet branding can be tricky, especially with so many social media channels to cover now and the traditional aspects. San Francisco is home to none other than the Bay Area, the world’s center for entrepreneurship and startups, so it makes sense that it may be one of the first places you turn to look for help in the area. But what are the top branding agencies in San Francisco?
We’ll run through our top picks, dishing out some advice on everything you need to know about brand agencies and starting your search in the Golden City.
Tips for Choosing the Right Branding Agency
As much as we endorse the five agencies we’ve highlighted here, you may prefer to research rather than take our advice at face value. So, what should you be looking for when comparing branding agencies?
The first place to look should often be the portfolio — anyone can talk about how much value they can offer you, but to determine if that will translate into tangible results, you need to see examples of their work for evidence.
When looking at the portfolio or having your first consultation, consider the types of clients and projects an agency has previously handled. Do they specialize in a particular sector (e.g., fintech) or have a signature style, such as minimalist, modern designs? This gives important clues about whether a digital branding agency will be the right fit for you.
Second opinions can also be helpful. If you know other business owners that have worked with a branding agency San Francisco, reach out to them to ask if they have any recommendations. Testimonials are also an excellent place to get feedback from others about their experiences — many agencies feature them on their website. Still, you can also turn to external sites such as Google My Business or Trustpilot.
The Best Brand Design Firms in San Francisco, CA, and SF Bay Area — July 2024 Ratings:
1. Clay
If you want to work with a branding agency that knows how to make UI and UX design sparkle, look no further than Clay. From its San Francisco, CA base, the business has helped clients that include Slack, Coinbase, and various high-profile startups to grow their brand identities.
The company provides various services, from 3D design to user research to front-end development. Although primarily a UI and UX design company, Clay considers itself a “full-service” digital agency. It can also drive engagement and optimization across diverse mediums, from apps to enterprise software.
2. Interbrand
Interbrand has been around for more than 40 years and has one underlying belief: that brands need to make “iconic moves” to stay relevant. It aims to deliver this to its clients, including big names like Adobe, Microsoft Mesh, and Fujitsu.
The company even runs its branding awards — the Interbrand Best Global Brands — which shows how committed it is to watching the industry develop and staying on the cutting edge.
It operates in various offices across the globe, including New York and London.
3. Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultancy with a history that dates back to 1965. It has offices in New York City and San Francisco, CA, and a team of more than 100.
Specializing in strategy, design, and transformation, the team has been involved with significant projects for clients like the London 2012 Olympics, Uber, TikTok, and Google TV (to name a few).
The agency serves the following industries: Consumer goods, culture and education, energy, financial services and Fintech, food and drink, health, manufacturing, media and entertainment, mobility, nonprofit, professional services, retail, sports, tech, telecoms, travel and hospitality, and urban spaces.
4. Lippincott
Lippincott is a creative consultancy that offers branding, innovation, design, marketing, experiences (such as designing services or employee experience), and activation (meaning it builds internal communications and systems). It has been around for over 75 years, over which time it worked with big-name clients like Coca-Cola and Starbucks.
With such a rich history, it shouldn’t be surprising that Lippincott operates in most regions worldwide, including North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
It also serves the most significant industries. These include aviation, consumer goods, culture and education, energy, financial services, Fintech, food and drink, healthcare, manufacturing, media, nonprofits, professional services, retail, technology, telecommunications, and travel and hospitality.
5. Landor & Fitch
The product of Walter Landor’s brand consultancy and Rodney Fitech’s experience in retail design, Landor & Fitch was formed to offer a world-class brand transformation company. With the skill set of the two men combined, the company aims to help clients achieve nothing less than extraordinary results. Considering the firm has now won more than 400 awards, it must be doing something right.
Landor & Fintech operates worldwide, with team members in Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia — in total, it has offices in 21 countries and 30 different teams. Some of the names on its portfolio include Renault, M&Ms, and KitKat.
Agency Focus
Since one of the critical factors to consider when weighing up the best branding agencies are the types of projects and sectors they approach, let’s take at the specialisms of the firms we’ve highlighted here.
Clay mainly focuses on tech companies, including big names like Amazon and Google — and it has particular experience in the fintech and crypto niches, with previous clients including Coinbase and Credit Karma. Although Clay has worked with many big Fortune 100 companies, it has also collaborated with various early-stage startups.
Interbrand has worked with clients in various sectors, from fashion to technology to healthcare. Although the bulk of its high-profile clients are either tech or government projects, Interband’s focus is on its approach rather than a specific sector. This is all about embracing the dynamism and the importance of staying relevant by combining the elements of people, businesses, and interactions between them.
Like Interbrand, Wolff Olins offers its branding services to a diverse mix of businesses. Previous clients range from the professional services from McKinsey & Company to newer tech firms like Instacart and TikTok. However, it has more clients in the financial services and retail industries than any other sector.
Lippincott is another all-rounder company that can help firms specializing in retail, media, logistics, and more. Many of its biggest recent projects are nonprofit initiatives, such as creating a brand identity for NYC Pride and aiding the environmental activism movement RePlanet. However, browse through their work portfolio, and you’ll see many big corporations, too, including Walmart and Taco Bell.
Landor & Fitch has a portfolio that spans many industries. Prominent examples include British Petroleum (BP) and Nike Kids. However, considering one of the founders has a background in retail design and the agency claims it has a “sustainable heart,” this is one of the agency’s major strengths.
What does a brand agency do?
Although you could hire a branding firm on blind faith and hope for the best, you’ll have a better job of finding the right creative agency if you understand what an agency does and what you should expect from them.
Typical tasks for a brand agencies
Essentially, a brand agency takes care of various tasks related to creating and managing a brand. An agency may help with any of the tasks outlined below.
Market research
Research is crucial for a brand strategy to be successful. It’s an agency’s job to dive deeply into the target market a company wants to tap into, including their demographics and the best messaging to reach them. This includes competitive analysis, an aspect of market research focusing on competitors.
This helps a firm nail down a niche and figure out its brand positioning.
Graphic design
One of the aspects most people think of when they hear “branding” graphic design includes making a logo and other items that form part of a brand’s visual identity, such as web design or infographics to post on social media.
Digital Marketing
Every brand needs a strategy for how it will attract the attention of prospects. Digital marketing may include content marketing strategies, PPC campaigns, and more.
Social media marketing
Social media is a great way to boost brand recognition and interact more with the target audience. It comes under the digital marketing umbrella.
Web development
A website is crucial to encapsulating a brand’s identity and encouraging leads to take action. Both its design and content need to be tailored to the audience.
Copywriting
Branding isn’t just about the visual aspects. It also comes down to slogans, taglines, and other copywriting pieces that build a company’s brand identity.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
For a brand to maximize its reach, it needs to take care of SEO, especially if it’s pursuing a content marketing strategy. This involves optimizing blog posts with the right keywords and best practices.
Variation
However, not all branding processes involve each step above. Every process will look slightly different depending on what stage a company is at and which areas it needs help with. Some businesses might need to build a brand identity from scratch, while others need to hone their brand strategy by working on specific areas, such as their visual identity.
To get a better picture of a brand agency’s role, you’ll also need a good understanding of the branding process in general. Let’s run through some of the most important aspects.
Difference between brand identity and corporate identity
Corporate and brand identities are very similar, but they’re not the same. For one, the term “corporate identity” is much more specific. It refers to the brand for an entire company, meaning that the brand identity in question may need to work across multiple product lines, services, or even different sectors. For example, Nestlé has its own corporate identity, but each product — such as Necafé and KitKat — has its brand.
You could say that a corporate identity is a brand identity, but a brand identity isn’t necessarily a corporate identity.
Corporate identities
Therefore, corporate identities tend to focus on a corporation’s values and its company culture. Corporate identities tend to be much broader and to remain reasonably stable over time rather than going through frequent rebrands. Finally, the target audience of a corporate brand is stakeholders and shareholders rather than just customers.
Brand identities
A brand identity tends to focus more on visual identity — including aspects like colors, fonts, logos, slogans and taglines, and shapes. Because a brand identity applies to a specific product (or service or individual), its focus can be much more narrow than a corporate identity so that it may be bolder. Plus, its target audience is end customers; partly because of this, they’re more likely to be refreshed and rebranded over time to maintain interest.
Difference between a logo design and a branding
A logo design is an integral part of any brand and certainly plays a crucial role in the branding process. But ultimately, having a solid brand is far more than just the logo.
Done right, the logo design should be part of a broader, brand management strategy. A company should first decide its purpose, target audience, and approach to determine aspects of brand identity, such as logo design. A logo is also likely to link to other visual brand identity elements, such as colors and typography.
Brand strategy steps
What can you expect them to get to if you’ve hired brand strategists and are working on pulling your brand identity together? Although each marketing agency may vary the process slightly depending on its approach and client, you can expect roughly the same framework.
You can break this down into the following steps:
- Understand where you are today
If you already have a brand or market strategy, what is it, and how do you feel about that? Do you want to develop your existing brand or change it entirely with a refresh?
2. Decide your goals
Leading on from the point above, you need to get clear on your specific goals. Every company going on this journey wants to develop a strong brand, but beyond that, what is your priority? For instance, you might want to grow your social media presence or get more leads to your website.
3. Know your target audience
Who are you trying to appeal to, and what are the problems they want to solve or their goals? It may help to develop a buyer persona at this point to nail down who you’re appealing to and how you can appeal to them. In general, the more specific, the better.
4. Choose your mission or vision
A successful brand should believe in something beyond trying to maximize its sales or become the leader in its field. What is your statement about how the organization will change the world for the better? Come up with a mission statement — and make sure it’s something that resonates with your target audience.
5. Figure out your brand positioning
This is where you start to consider your competitors and figure out how you fit into the landscape. What is the unique selling point that makes you stand out? The more specific your target audience is, the easier it will be for you to figure this out.
6. From the basics of your brand identity
Now, it’s finally time to work on the things most people associate with brand identities, such as a logo, slogan, tagline, and name. You may have these things already, but it’s worth assessing whether it’s time for a change after weighing up all the work and research you’ve done already.
7. Create your website
It’s the twenty-first century — no brand can thrive without a solid website to back it up. This is where many prospects will discover you for the first time or start their research. Hence, it’s essential to ensure it reflects the correct visual brand identity and that you have everything in place to give you visibility, such as SEO.
8. Choose which channels to focus on
How are you going to get the word out about your brand? Some will focus on social media, others on content marketing, or even on traditional marketing methods. Once you know your audience, it’s easier to figure out how to reach them.
9. Track and analyze your performance
It would be great if you could get everything perfect the first time, but this is rarely the case. Your brand strategy will always be a case of trying things out, seeing what sticks and shaking things up until you get the results you were after.
10. Make brand guidelines
Once you’ve figured out a brand strategy that works for you, consolidate things with a set of brand guidelines outlining everything you’ve decided about
It’s no small undertaking to go through all the steps outlined above, which is why brand development is best left to professionals. Fortunately, plenty of branding companies are willing to help you — especially in San Francisco.
The flow of the brand identity design process
We’ve outlined the steps to creating a brand strategy above. Still, it’s time to zoom in on the brand identity design process, which is about communicating between brand strategists and their clients to ensure everyone gets what they expect.
The meeting
First, there will usually be a meeting between the branding agency and the client. This is essential for the agency to understand the company’s current brand positioning and marketing strategy, but it’s also a great chance to see if both parties genuinely connect. After all, things are unlikely to go well unless the agency can “get” a brand’s vision.
The proposal
After this, some agencies may send over a proposal outlining their quote, the scope of the work, and how long everything will take. Others will make this clear at the end of the call.
Assuming everyone agrees to proceed, the agency will usually send over a questionnaire of some kind to get the details you need to get stuck into the project. You may have skimmed over some parts in the initial call, but there’s probably a lot more that they’ll want to clarify — especially regarding the specifics of potential design aspects or your aims. There may be some back and forth to ensure everything is clear.
The creative process
Then, the creative process can finally begin. This is likely to start with mood boards that set the tone for the direction the project will go in and the colors and shapes that are likely to be involved. Based on how things turn out, the ideas will be refined further with mind maps, a great way to demonstrate secondary themes that could tie into a broader concept.
Finally, the branding agency and client should work together to pick a few stand-out designs that hold the most promise for becoming part of a firm’s brand architecture and visual identity. These will turn into a few sketches that show different variations of the same designs — and eventually, the favorites can be fleshed out into something more final. This may involve several stages of feedback.
FAQ: Why should you hire a brand agency in San Francisco?
Based on our explanation of how brand strategies work, you’re hopefully old on why hiring an agency is crucial. But what’s so special about San Francisco, CA, that you should choose its agencies in other areas? Let’s run through some more location-specific questions.
Q: What differentiates Bay Area branding agencies from other brand design companies?
You can find branding firms anywhere in the world, and these days, you don’t need to fly out to a company’s geographic location to work with them. So why would you choose to work with a firm in one of the most expensive pockets of the world?
A startup haven
San Francisco’s Bay Area is well-known as a startup haven for technology businesses, with names like Google and Apple having their roots in the city. This gives the Bay Area culture of innovation, as all the innovative companies from there can bounce off each other, benefit from networking opportunities, and share information about their fields.
But it’s not just the tech startups themselves that benefit. Branding firms in this environment are bound to be head and shoulders above those with roots in less dynamic places. They tend to have more knowledge about upcoming trends (even before they happen) and new ways of doing things — it’s in the Bay Area that the lean startup and Agile methodology took hold, for instance.
The fact that the Bay Area is home to so much innovation means that agencies in the area are likely to constantly be exposed to new ideas, which they can use to help clients build their brand strategy. For instance, they might realize that new tech startups are beginning to prioritize an up-and-coming social media platform and urge their client to move in the same direction as part of their other digital marketing strategy.
Experience working with the best
Because it’s a haven for some of the best talents in the world, you can expect branding agencies in San Francisco to have ample experience working with the creme de la creme — the city has been named the top market for tech talent in the USA. This forces them to maintain the highest possible standards and keep reaching for the sky in everything they do.
Sometimes, a design firm may even count employees who have previously worked in some of the Bay Area’s top tech startups. This means they’ll know what a creative strategy for a highly competitive organization looks like and try to recreate that for branding clients. Wouldn’t you like to work with web designers that help to create the website for a top e-commerce startup?
An exercise in branding
Many of the world’s top branding agencies are found in San Francisco, CA, for one primary reason: The fact they’ve chosen the location is an exercise in branding in and of itself. Being based in San Francisco is an instant status symbol and a signal to potential clients that they know what’s in the business world and are committed to keeping up with trends.
You could say that it’s part of their brand storytelling to position themselves as one of the top agencies of their kind. And if they can pull that branding off for themselves, it’s a good sign that you can trust them to do the same for your company.
Q: How much do the San Francisco Bay Area branding agencies charge?
The San Francisco Bay Area is known for being one of the most expensive places in the world (and the second most expensive in the US), so naturally, branding firms in the area aren’t going to come cheap. But exactly how much can you expect to shell out?
The final cost will vary widely depending on what you need help with — it’s going to be a lot cheaper to get a quick refresh of your logo or web design than it is to carry out an entire brand strategy exercise from scratch, complete with all the bells and whistles.
Per hour
Many branding agencies have an hourly rate, which you can expect to be between $150 and $200. The top branding agencies charge more (up to $300 per hour), and you may encounter a firm or two that charges slightly below this.
Per project
You should expect a five-figure quote on a per-project basis, with anything between $15,000 and $55,000 being a reasonable estimation.
However, there can be significant variation between different branding firms, so it’s best to reach out to an agent directly for a quote. You never know — that company you assumed would be out of your budget may be more affordable than you thought.
Q: What does the process for hiring a branding agency in San Francisco include?
When hiring San Francisco branding companies, the process looks much like anywhere else.
Making the first point of contact
First, develop a shortlist of the top branding agencies you’re interested in. You may like to do this by asking your network if they’ve worked with a branding agency in the area they’d recommend, but otherwise, you can start the search yourself (we outline how to do this in greater detail below).
It’s a good idea to consider your business identity and the services you’re looking for at this stage. The clearer you are about what you want from an agency and what makes your business unique, the easier it will be to enjoy a smooth process.
Once this is sorted, contact each agency on your list and ask if you can kickstart the process.
Setting up the first call
Once you’ve contacted a branding agency to express your interest in working together, the next thing you can expect is for them to set up a meeting with you. This is their chance to understand the project’s scope, and it’s their chance to ask any questions and figure out if it’s an excellent professional fit.
After a few calls, you should start to get an idea of what you’re looking for and which agencies are delivering on that.
Receiving a proposal
At the back of the call, an agency should send you a proposal outlining what you can expect if you decide to go ahead with them for the project. This should include a timeframe, estimated cost, and the tasks they’ll perform.
Sometimes, the branding agency may send you a final questionnaire to clarify everything discussed in the call to ensure you’re both on the same page.
Then, you decide to figure out whether you want to go forward with an agency.
Q: How to choose a professional branding agency in San Francisco?
Ultimately, our best advice for finding the right branding agency in San Francisco is the same as anywhere else in the world — it’s all about asking the right questions and ensuring some kind of connection and mutual understanding before jumping in. Let’s break this down into a few key steps.
Ask for recommendations
One of the best ways to maximize your chances of working with a branding agency you can trust is by asking your network for a recommendation so you can work with a tried-and-tested firm. If you have a network in San Francisco, that should be the first place you turn.
However, if you don’t know anyone who has worked with a branding firm in San Francisco, that’s okay. You can simply look for a match through Google or LinkedIn — just make sure you pay extra attention to the vetting process described below.
Check their portfolio
It would be tough to figure out which branding agency would be a good fit for the company and match your vision if you had to decide based on their words alone. Fortunately, all branding firms should have an extensive portfolio of their work — so you can judge them on their actions and results instead of going on what they say.
In some cases, a brand agency might also have case studies from past projects, where they outline the brief they were given by the client and the results they were able to produce. Looking at these can be an excellent way to figure out if past clients have had similar instructions to those you intended to give and if the agency has been able to execute its promises.
It’s okay to get personal
Even if a branding agency has a flawless portfolio and you admire their work, it’s probably not going to result in a perfect working relationship unless you also have a good rapport. After all, when you’re working on something like a brand strategy, your vision and mission are crucial — and if you’re not on the same page here, the agency probably isn’t able to develop a brand strategy and identity that meets your expectations.
You also need to ensure you’re working with a branding agency that has stellar communication skills. Most branding projects involve a lot of back and forth and trial and error since there are so many small details to get right. If you have even the slightest suspicion that a team would struggle to understand your direction or involve you in the process, it’s probably not going to be a good fit.
Ask the right questions
Even if a branding agency impresses you in every conceivable way, don’t commit to working with them until you’ve put them through their paces regarding a few crucial questions. A few you might want to put forward include:
- Which sectors and industries do you typically work with?
- What does your typical process look like?
- What timeframe do you anticipate?
- Who in your team would we be working with, and how much experience do they have?
- Would you work with the rest of our team?
- How would you ensure that the brand strategy is consistent across channels and platforms?
- What kind of cost do you anticipate?
- How will you keep us in the loop throughout the project?
- Will you incorporate regular feedback into the process?
Look at testimonials
If you love a branding firm’s portfolio and they seem to talk the talk in your meetings with them, everything is going great so far. But it’s always worth asking for testimonials and having a quick browse before you commit to working with an agency for the long haul.
Any branding agency worth its salt should have a website filled with glowing reviews — and don’t forget to look on the rest of the internet, too, if you’d like to see the testimonials that aren’t cherry-picked.
Q: How long does the branding process take?
To an outsider, building a brand might sound like something you could achieve over a leisurely afternoon with friends. But in reality, creating a brand from the ground up is a complex process that requires extensive market research, followed by multiple rounds of trial and error to get things perfect.
Overall, you can expect a branding process to take a few weeks and months. Fortunately, you don’t need to leave it down to guesswork — a branding agency should let you know the timeframe to expect from the get-go.
Variation between projects
The most significant factor in determining how long a branding process will take is what it involves. If all you need is help with a logo design and visual identity, the process may be finished within six weeks (or even sooner). Meanwhile, it can take up to half a year to get things perfect if you want help with something that involves more aspects and complexity, such as web design.
As for a complete rebrand that includes naming, brand positioning, and market research — you can only imagine.
Ultimately, the takeaway is to put aside plenty of time and not to expect too much, too soon.
Bring on the branding
San Francisco is home to some of the world’s top branding companies and agencies, thanks to its culture of innovation. Being home to countless leading tech startups exposes branding firms in the area to the latest ideas and strategies constantly, which helps to keep them ahead of the competition.
Hopefully, one of the San Francisco branding companies outlined above will take your fancy — but even if it doesn’t, you should now have a better grip on what it takes to find the right branding company to work with. All that’s left is to kickstart the process and find out for yourself.
Good Luck with finding the best brand design agency in the SF Bay Area or San Francisco!
