Choosing the Right Brand Partner
There are many variables to consider when hiring an outside partner to launch, reintroduce or fine-tune a brand. Such variables often pose a challenge to companies seeking a brand partner since many do not understand how to identify variables or why they are important. Before entrusting any outside firm with your brand, a number of items should be understood and discussed with potential partners. If you have an existing partnership with a brand consultant or firm, do their philosophies and beliefs align with yours? If you are seeking a new brand partner, how do their philosophies and beliefs line up with yours?
There are a plethora of brand firms out there. In order to decide which firm best suits your company’s needs, it is imperative to first have an accurate self perception of your brand. If you (and a majority of your company) have any questions, whatsoever, about your company’s brand attributes, characteristics and the like, there’s a good chance you are in need of outside strategic counsel.
Such counsel is most often hired in one of two ways. The first is by hiring a third party brand consultant that specializes in strategic brand consulting. Once the engagement with this partner is complete, and you have a better sense of what the brand means to your company, a design/brand partner can be sought out to bring the brand to life. Companies that elect to hire a third party consultant usually experience a very effective relationship with their brand/design partner because they gain a more holistic understanding from the beginning of the process. Furthermore, senior level executives tend to have more significant buy-in with this approach.
The second way to employ outside counsel is to hire a full-service brand firm that can supply a highly consultative approach and process throughout the lifecycle of the engagement. For this approach to be effective, deep client buy-in – from the beginning of the process – is a must. If the client is not fully committed form the start, this scenario will put the design/brand partner in a quite a predicament. The partner will be working on the client’s brand while the client is stuck trying to understand or appreciate why brand is important and what value they will get out of the relationship. The effectiveness of either scenario depends largely on your company’s ability to put its own biases aside. Remember, your company is marketing itself for the purpose of appealing to a specific audience or audiences. Seldom do personal tastes of your company’s decision-makers matter in this quest. The target audience is just that; your target. You must work to never lose sight of this fact.
Once your company’s self-perception of brand is aligned, your path for choosing a brand/design partner should be clearer. Remember though, there are many types of brand firms out there – some ahead of the curve, others on the curve, and others behind the curve. Neither class of firm is necessarily better than the other, but they do produce a very different product and it is imperative to understand the difference. As the client, it is important to understand that “behind-the-curve” brand firms will have difficultly producing progressive deliverables. Likewise, an “ahead-of-the-curve” partner will be extremely progressive and should only be expected to produce A+ work. Asking a partner to provide a level of product it does not have the capacity to produce, or asking a partner to go outside of its style or company mission, will make for a less than desirable match for both client and the brand firm.
Once you select a brand/design partner, remember that you hired the firm for its expertise. So, unless you are already a brand/design/marketing expert, trust your partner and allow them to do their job the right way. Keep in mind that you wouldn’t tell your mechanic how to repair your car; and you wouldn’t tell your contractor how to structure your house. Yes, brand involves design – and design can be subjective – but there are technical and strategic reasons for avoiding certain shapes, color combinations, design styles and techniques. Brand development is just as much a science as it is an art form. Brand firms that are ahead of the curve are more adept to breaking down the science of brand and articulating its complexities. More importantly, such brand firms are more capable of articulating how the science relates to your company’s mission, value, needs and goals.
If you happen to hire the wrong brand partner, the effects will be noticeable. Chances are you will constantly attempt to massage their deliverable into what you expected it to be. There are two reason this might happen; either because your partner is not capable of the level of service you require, or because you, as the client, do not fully understand the process, goals involved or the level of creative. If this happens, consider it a red flag.
As the client, you should not have to massage your partner’s deliverable considerably. If you find yourself in this position, chances are you are using your partner as a tool rather than an expert resource. Your brand partner should be chosen and hired as a strategic ally; one that brings tremendous value to the table. They should be able to deliver accordingly. In closing, it is important to note that choosing the right brand partner is only half the battle. Selecting the proper internal team to work with your brand partner is equally critical to your brand’s success. The core team should comprise of senior-level management and key decision-makers. Your internal team should include key senior executives as well as representatives from your communications/marketing department. Keep the team small, so decisions can be made effectively, but big enough so all the right decision-makers are involved in the process from the beginning.
Repositioning a company or product brand can be a sensitive, emotional initiative for general staff. Involving staff in the decision-making process along the way can cause significant delays, or worse, a move in the wrong direction. Be sure to choose your core team wisely and keep them informed and involved in every step of the process. The effort of revisiting brand is a business decision; one driven by company mission, goals, needs and constraints. Each and every staff member will not always be able to fully comprehend or appreciate the decision or the details involved in the re-branding process. The best way to get staff on board is to prepare an internal rollout plan before launching the brand publicly. Your brand partner should be able to help you with the internal (and public) rollout strategy. Since change is most effectively communicated from the top-down, employees are more likely to embrace the new brand if well-respected leaders present the new brand. The spokesperson or spokespeople who are identified to present the new brand should be prepared to discuss the meaning of the new brand, its purpose, and when and how it will be rolled out company-wide.
#1354 Mary Skyers said:
Building a strategic plan or engaging in strategic planning can make a huge difference, particularly when it has a long-term focus and is used as a management tool, rather than simply being an exercise in forms completion. Business managers are constantly faced with strategic choices, such as developing a new competitive approach to an existing market, evaluating a potential merger or acquisition, or divesting core products or businesses. While the circumstances surrounding the choice may be unique to a particular company, these decisions themselves are similar to those that regularly confront top management in every industry. Such choices often require substantial commitment of time and resources and may have broad, long-lasting effects. Strategic plan templates & tools provide a framework for decision making.
Jun 22, 2008 at 10:56 am