Most people that I talk to often have the wrong idea of what branding means. They usually assume I am referring to their logo. Branding is the overall vision or plan on how everything relates to each other. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. This branding took thought and time, from the appearance of the brand itself to what the brand stood for. A cattle owner could have a brand that displayed that this livestock was a higher grade then the other livestock. However everything with the cattle owner’s brands always had consistency. This consistency allows you to grow and build on your previous achievements and reputation
Without consistency your brand suffers and will become obsolete. Image that cattle owner using a different brand, style or placement on each cattle that he or she owned. This image would be considered as unprofessional, the reputation would not suggest organization or worth. It would end up portraying the very opposite of his desired reputation. However, in business I often see the same mistakes happen as a result of inconsistent brands: the logo looks different from the letterhead, a different font on the business card and the brochure has a different colour scheme.
Whether you are a new business starting out or an established company, branding is something that should be taken very seriously and given weight in your company’s thought process. Ralph Lauren once stated “I am not looking like Armani today and somebody else tomorrow. I look like Ralph Lauren. And my goal is to constantly move in fashion and move in style without giving up what I am.” The best way to achieve consistency is to develop using your original files. Find a design company that is capable of designing everything for you. This will ensure you are always using the same fonts, colour schemes and styles. Using multiple companies for each item is often a recipe inconsistency. When using multiple companies you are often paying for them to recreate the previous work.
Here at Symetric Productions our graphic & web designers are capable of developing all of your branding needs. We often handle everything for our clients: logos, newspaper ads, vehicle graphics, business cards, billboards and more. This process is often less costly for our clients because we are using the same original file and reworking it fit the new piece.
Branding should not be something that you are constantly redeveloping. Branding should be something that allows you to build up and set yourself apart from your competition. Branding is the reputation of who you are, what you do and what you offer. The important question to ask yourself is what message are you branding? "A business based on brand is, very simply, a business primed for success,"
David F. D’Alessandro, former president and COO, Manulife Financial Corporation.