The real question here, is how valuable is a strong brand identity?
The quick answer is, getting your brand right is everything! Without it, every penny you spend on your business could be wasted.
Whatever you sell, it pivots on the way you engage with consumers or business decision-makers. From your website to the way you answer the phone should be influencing, informing, educating and persuading them.
Of course, these days – thanks to goldfish-tier attention spans and a myriad of buying tools and choices – you’ve got to do that pretty ruddy fast! Get your brand right and that’s exactly what happens. In a split second, your potential customer sees you and understands the benefits of what you are selling.
How much to budget for branding
With that said (and we could say a lot more on that topic) how much should you budget for your branding?
After all, you hear horror stories of branding agencies charging high prices for design work and advice that prove to be at best misguided, and at times superficial nonsense!
Getting your branding right underpins all your marketing and sales activities. So, set aside a budget the matches the size and complexity of your organisation and what it sells.
One rule of thumb that’s used in the industry is you should spend between 5 and 15% of your total start-up budget on creating strong branding.
Figures for spending on branding in the UK are hard to come by, as compared to other countries there’s a less sophisticated understanding of its value. It tends to get grouped into total ad spend in Britain.
An interesting statistic on that: in Q4 2019, UK marketing spend in general was 9.3% of overall company revenue. This again puts us substantially behind USA counterparts in ‘selling’ ourselves with sufficient conviction and investment!
What’s more, since Covid-19 barged into our lives like an unwanted in-law at a family gathering, advertising spending saw additional global decreases in 2020. There are signs that this is now on the mend, but we’re still feeling the impact even today!
What sort of branding do you need?
Small niche companies with a distinctive identity can get away with spending less than more generalist ventures, which will need extra support explaining themselves and standing out from competitors.
It all depends on the level of creativity you want to invest in creating a brand identity too, and whether you want a design agency providing truly bespoke brand support.
By way of illustration, a medical device company may want something business-like and based entirely on the gadget’s function. Whereas a company launching a new clothes range will want sophisticated branding, that positions and promotes their line brilliantly.
Meanwhile, if you’re selling a fancy aftershave/perfume all you really need to do is find the nearest mind-altering substance, take it in boatloads and begin filming. After all, nothing says “perfume” quite like a nonsensical advert about absolutely nothing!
Nuts and bolts of branding
Branding is most certainly not just a kick-ass logo and some impressive graphics with the wow factor. (Though those are part of the equation.)
It should be based on research and a great deal of consideration about who you are, what you are selling, what your customers expect and want. As well as what your competitors’ brands are. That’s just a quick resume of the way to develop an effective brand!
So, here’s the best way to decide how much to spend on branding – get in touch with us!
We may be an exuberant, eager and rather eccentric team of award-winning creatives, but we keep our prices keen and our services real.
