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Why Branding?

DOMINIC SINESIO Co-Founder/Creative Director, OFFICELAB Recent Posts

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November 1, 2010

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It's not surprising that marketing and branding can fall to the wayside while building a business. Historically, brand building and marketing have been expensive ventures that only large corporations or fully-funded start-ups could afford. So why should you choose to invest your limited resources in branding?

Believe in Branding

If you want your small business to be noticed – whether your goal is to become a fully-funded start up or to remain independent but profitable, building your brand is key. Believing in the premise of branding is vital. If you don't believe in the basis of the process, then it will most likely be a waste of time, money, and effort. So how can you justify the investment of branding for your company’s future?

Review other brands

Take a look at some brands you believe in — big ones and small ones. Start to notice the ways they create continuity between packaging, marketing, website, and promotional materials.

Listen closely to how these brands convey their message to consumers.
Learn the subtleties and the details in their products, packaging, and their promotions.
Look at all the ways you interact with the brand in the store, online, and in your home. Consider the energy and dollars that go into creating those touch points.

Think of the brand touch points

Now erase those elements and think of those brands without those touch points. Would your experience and/or your perception of the product or company be the same without them? What would be left of the product stripped of its package, website, logo? If the answer is not much, then you've made a case for what branding is and why investing in it is important.

Invest to build your brand

If you are a small business owner looking to start a new brand or rebrand an already established venture, think about what branding elements already exist within your company that you can both sustain and build upon. Know that every advertising and marketing campaign or new product line may increase your brand's visibility, but it’s the cohesion of these efforts over time that keeps your brand in people’s consciousness. The beauty of branding is that with the right foundation, a company can build their brand upward and outward with confidence.

Every small business must carefully consider the financial expenditure in re-branding, especially if partnering with an agency. However, branding is an investment in making your business a success. The nature of branding means the initial investment is a foundation that will allow your small business to get the most value out of future marketing dollars.

This article is part of our Project RE:Brand web series in which small businesses undergo brand makeovers from design experts.

Please leave your branding questions as comments below and check back for responses from our experts. (Note - this feature is currently not available on mobile devices.)

Dominic Sinesio is Co-Founder at OFFICELAB, a New York City boutique branding agency specializing is in full-service brand identity and communication design for print, packaging, retail and digital media. Watch Dominic and Co-Founder, Lesley Horowitz, give first-hand branding advice to OPEN Cardmember, ArtYarns, in our special web series, Project RE:Brand.

View the business profile for OFFICELAB in the OPEN Forum Connectodex.