FAQ | Tanner Garniss-Marsh Design

Answers to

General Branding Questions

What does brand or branding mean?

At its core, your 'brand' is like your business's reputation—it's what customers think and feel about you based on their experiences. 'Branding', on the other hand, is the process of intentionally shaping that reputation or impression.

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When we talk about a 'brand', we're actually talking about the emotional connection your customers form with your business. It's a blend of impressions and experiences that come together to create a feeling about your business. When your brand resonates positively with people, they're more likely to choose you over your competitors. Why? Because a strong brand can spark feelings of trust, reliability, or even innovation.

Now, 'branding' is the creative and strategic process of shaping your brand. It's the effort you make to shape those feelings and connections in the minds of your customers. Think of it as crafting your company's personality, a unique identity that differentiates you in the marketplace. Not just any identity, but one that's compelling, memorable, and full of promise. That's the power of effective branding!

So, in a nutshell, your 'brand' is the perception or emotional tie customers have with your business, while 'branding' is the deliberate steps you take to shape this perception. Both are fundamental to your business's identity, they determine how you're seen, how you interact with customers, and ultimately, your success.

How do I know If I need a brand?

Every business, big or small, inherently has a brand. Whether you're intentionally shaping it or not, people form perceptions about your business based on their interactions with you, your products or services, and anything else publicly associated with your business.

However, you might want to consider actively working on your brand if:

People Don't Recognize Your Business: If potential customers can't remember who you are or what you do, a distinct and memorable brand can make you more recognizable.
You Look Like Everyone Else: If your business is often confused with others, or fails to stand out in a crowded marketplace, strong branding can set you apart from the competition.
Your Business Has Evolved: If your business has expanded, pivoted, or otherwise changed its mission, services, or audience, your brand should reflect that evolution.
You're Struggling to Connect With Customers: A well-defined brand can help build an emotional connection with your audience, fostering loyalty and long-term relationships.
You're Having Trouble Charging What You're Worth: Good branding enhances the perceived value of your products or services, which can help you command higher prices.

Investing in your brand is a worthwhile endeavour that can yield significant benefits for your business. If any of the above points resonated with you, it might be time to work on your branding strategy.

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Do I really need a brand? Isn’t a logo enough?

Certainly, your logo is important, yet it's merely one part of a much grander picture. See it like this: Your brand is your promise to your customer, your commitment. It's the way your customers perceive you and the unique impression you sow in their minds, far beyond just a neat design you wave on your business cards and sprinkle on your website.

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Visualize your logo as the tip of an iceberg, peeking out of the water: it's the first element your audience sees. But my friend, let's not forget that beneath the water surface lies the lion's share of your brand, replete with abundant, enriching elements.

Branding transcends the aesthetics of an eye-catching design. It pushes into the profound, personal realm. It's about forging connections, emotional bonds, and the trust you garner with your customers. Your brand is not just a window into how customers see you; it's a mirror reflecting their emotions and trust.

Let's not overlook the power of consistent branding. It's like a secret sauce that makes your business pop out and stay etched in customers' memories. Consider your logo as the catchy theme song, but it's your overall brand narrative that's the full-featured film.

Loyalty—it's not begotten from the visual allure of your logo alone; it blooms from a wholesome brand experience which outreaches mere aesthetics. It spurs from the harmonized package of product quality, outstanding customer service, and the inherent values your brand exhales.

And, let's not sideline differentiation. Your logo visually helps you stand out, but a robust brand strategy—it's like the chisel in your hands, helping you carve out your exceptional space in the marketplace.

Always remember, a logo can make you recognizable, but it's your brand that truly makes you memorable.

Does branding really work?

The short answer is, yes. A good brand reshapes how people perceive your business. It gives you control over how your business presents itself to the outside world and allows you to move forward with intention. A good brand clearly communicates your goals, mission, and values—often referred to as your brand’s story. By aligning that story with the values of your customers and stakeholders, the higher they will value your business.

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Is branding better than marketing?

Branding and marketing are distinct yet interrelated components of a comprehensive business strategy, each with unique roles.

Branding comes before marketing, providing substance and alignment to your business goals and customer values. It helps in shaping how people perceive your business, cultivating trust, and influencing recognition.
Marketing involves active promotion and selling of your products/services, utilizing different strategies, such as advertising and PR. It actively reaches potential customers and drives sales.

Think of branding as your map and headlights during a nighttime drive—it guides your marketing efforts and illuminates your path, ensuring a more efficient, clear, and cost-effective journey. Without branding, marketing is like driving in the dark, making it challenging and inefficient.

What's more, relying solely on product or service quality for marketing puts you at a disadvantage, as competitors may offer similar or even superior options. Branding allows you to stand apart, turning more heads, commanding higher prices, and building loyal followers who keep coming back for more.

Both branding and marketing serve different but essential purposes within your business strategy. A comprehensive approach integrating them is crucial for optimal success, as branding sets the stage for targeted marketing efforts, creating a solid foundation for growth.

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Can’t I just invest into marketing and achieve the same results as branding?

In a nutshell, for your business, balancing marketing and branding are key. While marketing pushes your products, branding instills an enduring impression in customers' minds.

Neglecting branding can confuse the message your marketing sends, affecting customer decisions. Regardless of B2B, B2C, or D2C model, a balanced approach enhances sales, builds loyalty, allows for higher prices, and fosters resilience—a recipe for your long-term success.

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If you were solely to put your resources into marketing, such as advertising, public relations, and market research for your business, it likely won't provide the same results as balancing your efforts between marketing and branding. These two are not standalone elements but rather interconnected parts of a successful business strategy.

Let's understand this better:

Marketing refers to promoting your products or services to convince customers to engage with you.
Branding, on the other hand, is about creating a lasting impression or identity for your business that resonates with customers.
If you lean too heavily on marketing without solid branding, your message might confuse customers and weaken their reasons to choose you over your competitors.
Whether your business is B2B, B2C, or D2C, maintaining a good balance of both marketing and branding activities is crucial for success.
In the long run, investing in both not only boosts immediate sales but also creates long-term customer loyalty, enables you to charge more for your offerings, and makes your business more resilient during tough times.

So, a balanced approach to marketing and branding is likely to enhance your overall business performance.

Is there any risk to branding?

Branding may pose risks yet these can be avoided with strategic planning. The flexibility of small businesses allows quick error correction while larger firms risk revenue losses from missteps, like Tropicana's drastic packaging redesign in 2009, which led to a $30M loss. This underpins the need for cautious, phased changes in branding to prevent alienating customers, showcasing the importance of careful execution in branding strategy.

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Indeed, branding, like any business endeavour, can pose risks. However, it's important to highlight upfront that strategic steps and measured execution can significantly dampen these risks.

Small vs. Large Companies: Who's at Risk?

Smaller companies, being more flexible, can swiftly change direction if they encounter issues. On the other hand, large, widely recognized companies can face significant adverse effects from branding missteps that can damage public perception and cause considerable revenue losses.

A Case Study: Tropicana's Rebranding Misfire

A good example is the Tropicana fiasco in 2009. Their daring decision to entirely revamp their orange juice packaging resulted in a staggering 20% plummet in sales in merely two months, leading to a massive $30 million loss.

The underlying blunder? The new package design was a drastic departure from their familiar and trusted look. As a result, devoted customers failed to recognize the product on store shelves.

Lesson Learned

So, could Tropicana have sidestepped this catastrophe? Possibly. A strong marketing campaign may have softened the blow, but it seems a more cautious, gradual approach would have hit the mark. Introducing smaller, incremental changes over a longer timeframe would have been gentler on customers, allowing them to adjust to the new look without feeling alienated.

The Bottom Line

Strategic planning and careful execution are key in branding. By navigating potential pitfalls intelligently, businesses can manage branding risks effectively and enjoy a smoother journey in the marketplace.

How can my business benefit from branding?

Your business can benefit from branding in several ways:

Customer Recognition: A strong brand makes your business easily identifiable to customers. When people are familiar with your brand, they're more likely to choose your products or services over those that they don't recognize or know less about.
Standing Out in a Crowd: With countless businesses vying for customers' attention, having a unique and well-defined brand can set you apart from the crowd. It highlights what makes your business unique and why customers should choose you over your competitors.
Launching New Products: With a solid brand foundation and a loyal customer base, introducing new products or services becomes much easier and less costly because of the built-in recognition and trust.
Building Customer Loyalty: A strong brand fosters an emotional connection with customers. This connection can lead to long-term loyalty and patronage, ensuring repeat business and positive word of mouth.
Increasing Business Credibility: A professional and consistent brand can boost your credibility with customers, potential clients, and in your industry as a whole. This trust makes customers more likely to choose your business over others, ultimately improving your bottom line.

In sum, branding is more than just a logo or tagline. It's about shaping the way customers perceive and feel about your business. An effective brand can lead to higher recognition, greater customer loyalty, and a competitive advantage—all key to the success of your business.

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Can my brand evolve over time?

Definitely! Your brand is not static—it's a dynamic and evolving entity. As your business expands, consumer preferences shift, or market trends alter, your brand should adapt to stay relevant. Regular evaluations of your brand performance and industry trends, coupled with customer feedback, can help steer your brand towards needed adjustments for sustainable growth.

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Yes, your brand can and should evolve over time. As businesses grow and adapt to changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and technologies, it's important for their brand to keep pace. Just like your products or services may adapt to these changes, your brand must evolve to remain relevant and appealing to your target audience.

Factors Influencing Brand Evolution

Changes in Market Conditions: Shifting consumer demands or competitive landscapes may require adjusting brand messaging or positioning to stay ahead.
Target Audience Expansion: A broader or more diverse customer base might necessitate brand adaptations to better resonate with a wider audience.
New Products or Services: Introducing new offerings might require adjusting your brand image to encompass a more extensive range of products or services.
Technological Advancements: Changes in technology, industry trends, or social media platforms may require brand updates for better integration and exposure.
Company Mergers or Acquisitions: Company restructuring, or joining forces with another business, might call for a rebranding to better represent the combined organization's values and goals.

Maintaining Brand Consistency

While allowing your brand to evolve, it's equally vital to maintain a sense of brand consistency. To establish strong brand recognition and loyalty, some key elements such as brand values, mission, and core messages should be preserved. Balancing evolution and consistency is key to a successful brand adaptation.

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Answers to

Brand Design Questions

Is brand design the same as graphic design?

Brand design and graphic design are related but not the same. Brand design focuses on creating a cohesive identity for a business, while graphic design is concerned with crafting specific communication visuals.

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Although brand design and graphic design both contribute to a company's identity, they serve different purposes. Brand design goes beyond creating visuals—it works to establish a unique and cohesive identity or sub-brand for a business. This encompasses everything from the company's mission and values to its visual aesthetic and messaging.

On the other hand, graphic design is a subset of the branding process that emphasizes the creation of specific communication visuals such as business cards, brochures, and presentations. Graphic design primarily aims to create visual elements that facilitate clear and effective communication.

Both graphic design is a crucial component of brand design, but brand design covers a wider scope to ensure that all elements, actions, and messaging are memorable, consistent, and resonate with the intended audience.

What elements are essential for brand design?

Essential elements of brand design include a memorable logo, a strategic colour palette, specific typography, consistent imagery & graphics, clear and consistent messaging & tone of voice, and comprehensive brand guidelines.

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Building a strong brand design is more than putting together a visually appealing logo - it's about creating a comprehensive visual identity that communicates your brand's values and resonates with your target audience. Here are the key elements you should take into account:

Logo: This is the visual representation of your brand. It should be simple, yet unforgettable, and versatile enough to be used in various sizes and contexts.
Colour Palette: Colours are influential in setting the mood and eliciting emotions. The right colour combination should be strategically chosen to resonate with your target audience and align with your brand story and ethos.
Typography: Fonts might appear secondary, but they play a significant role in shaping your brand's personality. They need to be legible and representative of your brand's identity, making it easily recognizable and relatable to your audience.
Imagery & Graphics: Consistency in visuals is key to forming emotional connections with your audience. Photos, illustrations, icons and other graphic elements should always align with your brand's essence.
Messaging & Tone of Voice: How you communicate with your audience is of utmost importance. Your brand's narrative, which includes the language, style, tone, and rhythm of your contents, should be consistently aligned with your brand personality and engaging to your audience.
Brand Guidelines: Having a detailed brand guideline is essential for upkeeping the integrity of your brand. These guidelines serve as a reference for your team and external partners, ensuring that all design and communication elements maintain consistency and fidelity to your brand.

Remember, consistency across all these elements is crucial to establishing a distinct brand identity and making your brand stand out from the competition.

How do I know if my brand design is effective?

To assess the effectiveness of your brand design, look for distinctiveness, recognizability, alignment with core values and unique selling proposition, customer loyalty, and positive feedback. Regular evaluation, customer feedback, and the use of analytics tools can also provide valuable insights into its effectiveness and alignment with your business goals.

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An effective brand design goes beyond just good looks—it should create a meaningful connection with your audience and reflect your company’s core values, mission, and unique selling proposition. Here are some key indicators by which you can evaluate its success:

Distinctiveness: An effective brand design sets your brand apart in the market. If your brand design is unique and easily recognized among your competitors, that's a strong indication that it's effective.
Brand Recall & Recognition: This is about how quickly a customer can identify your brand from your brand elements such as logo, colour palette, typography, etc. If these elements spark instant recognition, your brand design is doing its job well.
Consistent Customer Experience: Your brand design should provide a consistent experience across all touchpoints—digital or physical. If customers have a consistent, positive experience regardless of where they interact with your brand—be it on your website, a print advertisement, or in a physical store—this signifies effective brand design.
Customer Loyalty and Sentiment: A powerful brand design evokes emotion and fosters loyalty. If customers are repeatedly coming back and showing positive sentiment towards your brand on social platforms or reviews, this is a good sign that your brand design is resonating with them.
Alignment with Business Objectives: Your brand design should translate into business growth and meet your specific objectives, be they increased sales, more leads, or improved customer engagement.
Regular Evaluation, Customer Feedback, and Analytics: Regular reviews and customer feedback sessions can provide valuable insights into how your audience perceives your brand design. Using analytics tools, you can also measure customer engagement, conversion rates, etc., to understand how your design is aiding your business goals.

Through these checks, one can ascertain the effectiveness of a brand design and understand if it aligns well with both business objectives and audience expectations.

What types of deliverables can I expect from a brand design project?

In a brand design project, you can expect to receive brand guidelines, logo designs, a defined typography and colour palette, as well as custom imagery and illustrations. Each of these elements comes together to form your unique brand identity.

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Designing a brand isn't a one-size-fits-all process – it's a journey to create a visual representation of your unique story, values, and goals. Let's break down what you can expect from a brand design project:

Brand Guidelines: This is your brand’s playbook. It’s a detailed guide that helps you, and anyone else working with your brand, to use its visual elements consistently. This encompasses your logo, colours, fonts, and even the tone of your voice in your communication.
Logo Designs: Your logo is a visual shorthand for your brand. Together, we'll design primary, secondary, and other variants of your logo to ensure it can adapt to various use-cases while still signalling your brand identity.
Typography & Colour Palette: The fonts and colours you consistently use across your branded content are just as critical as your logo. We'll work together to define a set that's consistent with your brand's personality and resonates with your audience.
Imagery & Illustrations: These visual elements can be custom artwork, a photography style guide, or unique graphical elements that align with your brand. They add depth to your brand and serve to enhance the connection with your audience.

Remember that every element in your brand design package is designed to tell your brand's story in the best way possible. Each piece supports and reinforces the other, working together to ensure your brand presents a consistent, compelling image no matter where it appears.

What type of design work does your service cover?

Brand Design service encompasses a wide range of design aspects. From logo designing, colour palette selection, typography, imagery, to the creation of iconography and a style guide, we make sure your brand represents who you are and what you stand for.

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Will I have a say in the design process?

Absolutely. The process is collaborative. I work closely with you during every step of the design process, listening to your feedback and making revisions where necessary, ensuring the end-result truly represents your brand and business.

Frequently Asked Question

General Branding Questions

Brand Strategy Questions

Brand Design Questions

Brand Management Questions

Have another question?

Frequently Asked Question

General Branding Questions

What does brand or branding mean?

How do I know If I need a brand?

Do I really need a brand? Isn’t a logo enough?

Does branding really work?

Is branding better than marketing?

Can’t I just invest into marketing and achieve the same results as branding?

Is there any risk to branding?

How can my business benefit from branding?

Can my brand evolve over time?

Brand Strategy Questions

What is required in a brand strategy?‍

Is Brand Strategy necessary for my business size/type?

How does brand strategy help my business?

How do you create a brand strategy tailored to my business?

What does your Brand Strategy service include?

Brand Design Questions

Is brand design the same as graphic design?

What elements are essential for brand design?

How do I know if my brand design is effective?

What types of deliverables can I expect from a brand design project?

What type of design work does your service cover?

Will I have a say in the design process?

Brand Management Questions

What if I only need ongoing support occasionally?

How does your ongoing support work in terms of brand management?

How do I incorporate my brand design across different platforms and marketing materials?

Have another question?