What is a branding agency?

When we tell people that VRVE is first and foremost a branding agency, the usual response is ‘what is a branding agency??’

You may think we get bored of giving the answer so many times but not at all. Why? Because it is such an important question.

Branding is EVERYTHING. It allows you to gain competitive advantage, define an effective brand communications strategy and widen your target audience.

We cannot overstate how important this is!

The importance of branding and brand identity for your business

Put simply, branding helps people recognize your business and products and, more importantly, align with your ethos. A brand is more than just a logo or colour palette - it is a strong message about what you offer your customer, everything your organisation stands for and helps to set you apart from others.

People tend to buy brands, rather than products or services. Even if you sell a product that is exactly the same as other companies’ products, certain people will relate to you more due to the promises you have made them through the brand design.

And this is why intelligent branding helps give you a competitive advantage – you can tailor your message to your specific audience, directly aligning your product or service with their mindset.

Branding allows you to connect emotionally and a high proportion of buying power is based on emotional response. Emotion also creates brand loyalty which keeps customers coming back for more.

Moreover, considered branding enables you to open a clear path for consumers to engage with you and, when done well, create a superior user journey. This is why strong brands are often perceived as ‘shortcuts’ in the customer purchase decision process. A clear, consistent offering and positive experience mean there is little reason to go elsewhere.

Of course, customers aren’t the only stakeholders in a business. Investors, partners, suppliers, licensees, etc, are all swayed by brand identity and will trust professional, trustworthy reputation (which branding helps develop). Focussed brands also tend to attract the best employees and retain them for longer.

The last point to make is an internal one - considered branding keeps your organisation focussed. To be successful, everyone needs to be on board - if you have employees who really understand and believe in what they are doing (and why they are doing it), their drive will come through to your customers.

What exactly does a branding agency do?

A branding agency develops an understanding of your business, clarifies your goals and objectives and works out how to communicate this in the right way to the right audience. They will help create a strategy to grow your brand and provide you with the right toolkit to communicate your brand values and identity inside and outside your organisation.

Branding agencies are usually able to plug in wherever your business needs them. At a basic level, they will perform a brand project and supply you with brand guidelines to ensure in-house teams and suppliers create consistent assets.

However, if they are ‘full-service’ agencies, we feel they are best used as an outsourced ‘department’ of your business who can provide ongoing design, web and marketing support for a fraction of the cost of employing your own team of experts.

That’s really the answer to the question ‘why use a branding agency?’ While you may know your business inside out, they specialise in how to communicate effectively with the people at the end of the line – your customers. It is a question of perspective as much as anything else – if you are ingrained in your business (as you have to be to make it a success), it is all the more difficult to flip your mindset and put yourself into the head of the consumer.

Questions to ask your brand design agency

It is important to find the right branding agency for you (and that’s usually not the one that tells you what you want to hear!). Some factors to consider are:

• What is their experience, who are their past clients, and can they show you their work?
• Do they employ a clear process to follow to guide you through the branding process?
• How do you interact with them and how do they interact with you?
• Are they willing to provide concrete costs for the entire project, including any essential assets that may be required?
• Do they have the potential to become a trusted partner who helps you grow your business?

We’ll repeat what we said at the beginning – brand is EVERYTHING. It is what all successful, professional businesses spend a lot of time and money getting right from the start; it is what SME’s and start-ups can leverage to propel themselves to the next level.

Having brand specialists working for you can only make your business stronger in the long run!

VRVE Ltd is a full-service creative agency that provides all the help you need to reach out to your customers and grow your business. Company branding focusses and aligns your message; custom website design creates an impactful, engaging cornerstone for your marketing activity; high-level graphic design and pro-active, end-to-end digital marketing creates a funnel through which to turn ‘viewers’ into leads.

Through a network of trusted professional partners, including photographers, videographers, Pay-Per-Click experts and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) gurus, we offer every service you need to succeed. VRVE enjoy long-term partnerships with clients, adapting to give the required support as they grow and evolve – a creative partner who is always there when needed, at whatever level required.