Do branding experts envy plumbers? Plumbers’ customers are crystal clear on the objective of the work they perform: an operational system of pipes, drains, sinks, and toilets. But companies who hire branding professionals tend to labor under a number of misconceptions. They may be unable to define exactly what branding is, and they can have some pretty odd notions about it.
Part of this is intrinsic to the branding industry, since there’s no hard and fast definition of what branding includes. “When people go into a branding project, they assume that their employees and the people they’re working for have a common understanding of what branding is,” says Jane Tilka, president of Tilka Design, a communication design firm in Minneapolis. “Starting out, it is really important to understand what you are accomplishing: what the organization that is working with you is delivering and how it is going to be used within the organization. You know, a grasp of ‘Why are we doing this?’”
"Wal-Mart and Target have a strong sense of self and who they are as a brand. You would never mistake the Target experience for the Wal-Mart experience."
Different consulting groups approach the problem in different ways, she says, and that spawns confusion. So before they begin, branding consultants should set the ground rules for what branding work within the organization will entail. And while they’re at it, clear up a few things.
Clients, it turns out, tend to hold a predictable set of spurious beliefs about branding. These common misconceptions can get in the way of clear communication and effective branding work. Here, local branding gurus dispel the misinformation.
