Company Branding: Five easy mistakes to avoid for your brand

Forging your company branding identity is increasingly important in this fast-paced, digital world. As such, it is essential to leverage easy-to-read, visual recognition that can quickly tell a story about your company’s values.

When it comes to establishing your brand, there are plenty of resources telling you what to do, and they may be right. But what is equally important – and what many fail to mention – are how to avoid the common mistakes that are easy to make, along with their awful consequences. Here are just a few of the many we’ve encountered while working on company branding.

1. Underestimating the power of a brand

Easily the most common mistake, businesses simply fail to appreciate how significant a strong brand identity is in our ever-connected, digitally dominated world. Clients are inundated with hundreds, if not thousands, of brands everywhere they go, both on and offline. Will your company brand stand-out? A powerful company branding delivers the instant recognition that is key to thriving in this environment.

Rather than being ‘something we have to do’, your company branding is the core of your business identity and should be treated with the respect it deserves from the start of the design process through to your company brand launch and implementation.

2. Company branding has one element more (or Less) important than another

A company branding value comes from a holistic approach rather than developing it one piece at a time. Lay out your choices for each component to help produce a company brand that feels more complete, then develop them from the ground up – together. Consider the following:

• The Logo: Where on an ad can it appear? How is it treated on television? Or the internet? Against what kind of background? How small can it be? How close are other images and words allowed to get to it?
• Color Palette: What do the colours you choose say about your company?
• Fonts: Modern? Classic? Helvetica is great, but the market is saturated with it. There’s a lot to consider on this one component alone.
• Your language; meaning: How does your company brand communicate with its clients? Or even its employees? Is the language conversational? Formal?
• Brand Ambassadors: Who are the people representing your company brand message? Front line retail employees? A sales team? Everyone?

Of course, there are many other things to consider in you company brand, but these form the key central aspects of your company brand that should always be outlined before the design comes together.

3. Overly complex or overly vague company branding message

You can fail to get your branding message across by making it overly complex, or overly vague. It is a fine line between those two ends.

It’s easy to let enthusiasm overcomplicate what you are trying to say, which could come across as pushy, insincere, or reflect inefficiencies within your organization.  Likewise, it is just as easy to be too vague. Simply because you know what your message is, many businesses take it for granted that their audience knows too. The audience is then left feeling confused and uncertain about your message and your brand.

The trick is to ensure your company brand message is clear and to the point, which gives the impression of a sincere, and straightforward business.

4. Poor implementation of a company brand refresh

If your company brand is due for a refresh, there are several things to consider. Firstly, there is nothing inherently wrong with rebranding. A company brand refresh can bring new life to any business although it must be done carefully and put into action the right way, taking into consideration the same components and holistic approach you would in developing a company brand from the ground-up (see: Everything matters.)

However, all transition comes with risk. Rebranding could cause a disconnect with a client-base built on the previous brand. Whether launching a rebrand all at once, or rolling it out over a period of time, it is important your clients understand what is being done, and why. This can go a long way to keeping a relationship with your current client-base while moving forward to build new ones on the refreshed brand.

5. Doing your company branding on your own

By now, you’re probably second-guessing yourself on how to approach your company branding (or rebranding). It can be daunting – this list is just the tip of the iceberg on the most important aspect of your business: its heart and soul. It is essential for every business; and far too many companies have failed to launch successful brands by taking on the work themselves without a solid understanding of branding elements, and what it takes to build them. Often times, companies are just too close to their own material to objectively design, build and launch a great brand.

The good news is you can avoid these pitfalls by planning ahead with the help of a high-end design agency like Montreal Graphic Design. We have a solid knowledge-base and skill-set to build and implement a brand that works for you in this competitive marketplace.

Contact us today to begin your journey to the perfect company brand.