Looking to hire a branding agency for your business? Discover below the top 4 things businesses of all sizes can expect from the process and the top 4 things you can do to prepare.
4 Things to Expect When Working with a Branding Agency
Before hiring a branding agency or starting a project with one, it’s important to understand the range of services they typically provide, such as brand strategy, design, and identity development. Here are the top four things you should know to ensure you enter with clear expectations.
1. Brand Development is a Process
A successful brand isn’t built overnight or even in a week. A typical brand project with a professional agency will be about a 6-12 week process. If you need it faster than that, then I will tell you right now to lower your expectations of the final result significantly. Brand development is a key part of this process, as it ensures that your agency’s strategies and creative work are aligned with your company’s goals to build a cohesive and effective brand identity.
Branding is a creative process that typically involves several iterations of every element involved (read next section). Your brand strategist isn’t going to deliver the final product the first time (though never say never!), so don’t stress out if that doesn’t happen. Expect to work with them through several drafts. What’s most important is ensuring that each draft feels like you’re getting closer to that desired end result, supporting your brand’s long-term growth.
2. What’s Included in a Full Branding Process
The next most important thing to know is what you’ll actually be receiving and working on throughout the project. The typical external branding agency will include in a full package:
- Brand DNA + Strategy: Brand positioning, brand purpose, voice, core values, mission, vision
- Brand Messaging: Tagline, slogans, unique value propositions (differentiators), elevator pitch
- Visual Identity: Visual design and logo design as key elements, along with typography (fonts), color palette, and branded graphics
- Brand Application: Application of the brand across website, social media, marketing materials, packaging, digital marketing, content creation, advertising, ecommerce platforms, and digital strategy to ensure a cohesive presence across all touchpoints
- Brand Guide: Comprehensive brand guidelines covering everything above for your team to follow moving forward
Every brand agency is different, and most have varying deliverables based on your package, so be sure to have this discussion with the business development specialist before signing.
3. Expect Strategic Branding Collaboration (and Homework)
For the most part, you can relax and let the external branding agency do the heavy lifting, but it isn’t going to be an entirely hands-off experience for you. They will have things for you to review and provide feedback on, or exercises they need you to complete to help them do their job.
A good external branding agency is also going to want to meet with you regularly to present updates and receive feedback. At Big Red Jelly, we meet with our clients every week for 30 minutes to an hour. During those calls, our team comes prepared with an agenda with the intent of getting your input on all of the deliverables presented. In addition to open collaboration, we provide ongoing support throughout the process to ensure your brand development stays on track and any challenges are addressed promptly. Open collaboration with our clients is key to ensuring we are moving in the right direction, creating the best possible work, and making timely progress.
4. Brand Development is an Investment—Not a Quick Fix
Rebranding your company, or branding it in general, isn’t going to provide results for your business overnight. However, effective branding can significantly impact business success by shaping your company’s long-term growth and market presence. Over time, it will be the face of your business that builds recognition and tells your audience who you are.
Your brand affects every aspect of your business, from how a pitch deck presentation looks to who you hire. Building strong brand loyalty is a key outcome of effective branding, as it fosters lasting relationships with your customers. If you don’t have a brand, you don’t have a business.
4 Ways to Prepare Before Starting Your Branding Project
Now that you know what to expect from a branding project with an external branding agency, it’s important to focus on key preparation steps to set the foundation for success. Here are four ways you can prepare for one.
1. Know What Your Brand Strategy Goal Is
Before starting a branding project, you need to define why you are starting it in the first place and what you hope to achieve from it. Are you rebranding to better align the brand with who the company is today? Or to change market perception? To attract a new audience? Identifying your target market and target audience is crucial, as your branding efforts should be tailored to resonate with the specific groups you want to reach.
Understanding why you’re undergoing a branding process and sharing that with your brand strategist will help guide the project in the right direction. You need to know what success looks like in order to know when it’s achieved, and a clear brand strategy is essential for achieving your goals.
2. Assemble Your Strategic Branding Team + Decision Maker
Assemble key members from your own team that you want to be involved in the process and get them on board. These team members typically include the CEO, COO, marketing director, in-house designer, and those in roles that will provide valuable perspective to the rebuilding of the brand. When starting your branding project, it’s crucial to select an ideal partner who brings expertise, a shared vision, and ongoing support to ensure your brand’s success. Caution, however, on how many team members you involve.
At Big Red Jelly, we always warn clients at the beginning of a project not to fall into the “too many chefs in the kitchen” dilemma. Having multiple voices, especially in a creative process, almost always has a negative impact on the project and progress. Working with trusted partners can help streamline collaboration and maintain focus. Consensus kills creativity.
Lastly, what is most important is that the final decision maker for the brand is either involved in the process or is being kept in the loop by your team. The last thing you want is to reach the end of a project, present it all to the boss, and be told “no.” Having a reliable partner involved in decision-making ensures alignment and smooth progress.
3. Be Ready for Change + Pushback from the Branding Agency
You are hiring a professional brand agency for their expertise. Lean on them to not only create the brand for you, but to strategize with you and guide you through it. Different industries and companies face unique challenges in the branding process, and experienced agencies understand how to address these specific hurdles with tailored strategies. Create a relationship with them where candid feedback is welcomed on both sides. The best brand strategists will thoughtfully consider your opinions as the expert in your industry, but will push back when things are going against their expertise in branding.
If you’re looking for someone to just create exactly what you tell them to, then you aren’t looking for a branding agency. Save yourself and them the headache and hire someone on Fiverr.
4. Choose a Branding Agency Based on Fit
When selecting the right branding agency to work with, consider more than just price and portfolio. Choosing the right branding agency is crucial—look for the perfect partner who understands your vision and can deliver effective branding solutions for long-term success.
Find an agency whose thinking resonates with you and who has a proven track record and a strong track record of delivering results. Ask them how they approach branding, decision making, and collaboration.
You are signing up to work closely with them for sometimes up to several months, so ensure their approach aligns with your values and that they offer an integrated approach to branding, operating in a way you’re comfortable with.
Go Forward With Confidence
Entering a branding process isn’t a light decision; branding is expensive, whether you’re a new company or an old one. Branding agencies help create strong brands and compelling brand identities that connect with customers, fostering loyalty and differentiation in the market. It is important that you feel prepared and empowered in your decision-making to select an external branding agency that can deliver results and start the process.
Feeling ready to hire a branding agency? Connect with our team today to see if we are the right fit for you.
