Branding services are among the first services that companies tend to employ. After all, if you seek to build up a brand, it is best to do so right from the beginning. It will help your company save a lot of money long-term and help it stand out in an ever-growing, highly competitive landscape of the modern-day business world. A brand is a heart and soul of a business, and it is more than just a fancy logo. It encapsulates the values and goals of a business, it reflects its personality, and it makes its promise.
The best way to communicate your business’ personality and promise clearly and effectively is to use professional branding services, which will know how best to present those aspects.
Branding Statistics Highlights
- 88% of consumers say authenticity is the key factor when deciding what brands to choose.
- Millennial and Gen Z consumers seek brands that clearly show that they care about more than just profits.
- 46% of consumers are willing to pay more money to buy from trusted brands.
- Color plays a large role in how consumers perceive brands. Using signature color can boost brand recognition by 80%.
- Consumers take only 05 seconds to form an opinion about a business’ brand.
What Are Branding Services?
Branding services are companies that revolve around building up a company’s brand or improving its existing one. Quite often, new companies start with a limited budget that they have to use for buying resources, product development, renting the space for their business to operate in, and alike. In such situations, they might cut corners in areas that are not perceived as immediately necessary, and branding often ends up being an aspect of their business that suffers.
However, when the business can afford it, it must remember to improve its branding to stand out in a highly competitive business world. Many businesses either fail to prioritize branding or they struggle grasping the somewhat intangible principles that drive a great brand. In the age of the internet and advertising, capturing the attention of consumers and attracting them to your brand is difficult, even with unique and attention-capturing branding. Without it, your business might not even stand a chance.
This is why branding services exist. They employ professionals who understand consumers and who know how to attract them and build a brand that will catch their eyes.
Why is Branding So Important?
Branding is more than just a logo. It represents who you are as a company on a fundamental level. It can decide how customers feel about your business (both consciously and unconsciously) and what they expect from it. Businesses with strong brands are known for winning the loyalty of their customers for years. Some businesses even managed to maintain customer loyalty over entire generations. They attract new generations just as they did the older ones, and all of it comes from doing the branding right, combined with offering a top-quality product. Of course, the product makes people come back to your business, but branding makes them try it in the first place.
It needs to be instantly recognizable and elicit an emotional response. Mishandling branding is like putting additional obstacles on the road ahead of you. This is the same road that every business takes, and it is already quite challenging. With that said, you should focus on eliminating any challenge and difficulty you can, not adding more challenges to deal with.
Are Branding Services Worth It?
Despite the importance of branding, businesses still need to be careful about what they spend their money on, especially if they are young and still trying to establish themselves and reach stability. As a result, many may decide to handle the branding themselves. This is definitely an option, and there are many businesses that handle it in-house, only to become extremely successful. Of course, many likely hired branding services or expert designers to improve their brands over the years, but they started with their own ideas. You will certainly recognize names like:
- Apple
- Coca-Cola
- McDonald’s
- Tesla
- Nike
- Amazon
Many other ones took care of their own branding, and they managed to attract customers just fine. However, that doesn’t mean that hiring branding services is a bad way to go. There are also many major corporations that hire branding services to do their branding for them. Some examples include:
- Uber
- Starbucks
- Airbnb
- Mastercard
- Pizza Hut
- PepsiCo
- Walmart
In the end, it’s your choice. However, it is worth noting that hiring a branding service could yield certain benefits instead of doing it yourself.
Branding services have experience and expertise in doing this sort of work. They can offer a fresh perspective and save you time. They are efficient and consistent, especially if you hire some of the biggest, most professional firms that other major brands have hired. Remember that branding is a skill they specialize in, so they are worth it if you struggle to come up with ideas yourself. But it is still your business, and if you have an idea that you think would work, you are free to try it out yourself. After all, you have a deep understanding of your business that branding services do not.
Also, it will certainly help with cost savings. Just remember that you only have one chance to leave the first impression on consumers, so make sure to do it right.
What to Look for In the Best Branding Services
If you decide to employ a branding service, you next need to make sure to select a good one. To make sure that you are employing quality, start by reviewing the most reputable and experienced ones. Companies that have been in business for a long time and have a good reputation tend to know what they are doing. As such, there is a higher chance that they will offer top-quality service.
You can also review the firms’ branding portfolios and check out their work for yourself. Along the way, you can also see client testimonials, which will tell you whether the clients are happy with the firm’s service.
When you try to assess the company’s past work, try to assess how creative and innovative it was. Your business will require customized, unique branding, so try to see if the company approaches each of its clients by catering to their specific needs. Of course, it would help if the firm understands the industry you are a part of, but this might not be a necessary requirement if it seems like it is willing to put in enough effort into research to learn what it needs before coming up with a solution for you.
Also, firms willing to collaborate with their clients to help build a brand that would include the brand’s ideas and better them are also worth looking for. If their pricing is not too high, you might have found the best firm to help you out.
Best Branding Services
1. Landor & Fitch
Landor & Fitch is a global design and branding agency with a long history of creating iconic brands for its clients. It created brands for FedEx, BMW, Visa, Marriott International, and many others. The firm offers a wide range of services for both B2B and B2C markets, such as brand strategy, naming, designs, and also digital branding.
The company focuses greatly on understanding its customers, as well as their industry and consumers, especially their behavior and preferences. After studying the consumers to obtain data-driven insights, it uses this knowledge by creating brand solutions that tend to resonate with the client’s audience strongly.
Thanks to its global presence, the firm is also skilled at reading individual local markets, so firms from all over the world stand to benefit by employing its services.
2. Pentagram
Next up, we have Pentagram — a company that handled branding for the American Museum of Natural History, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros, Samsung, The New York Times, Rolls-Royce, and many others. It is a renowned multi-disciplinary design company offering graphic design, branding, brand identity, strategy, and more services.
Over the years, Pentagram became a solid branding company that thrived in offering brands for ecommerce businesses. It has a particular gift for packaging and product design. It is one of only a handful of companies that offer all of these services under one roof, which means that your business would not have to combine multiple collaborators. As a result, your brand will be more consistent, which also helps to inspire trust in it.
3. Wolff Olins
In the third spot, we have Wolff Olins, which has developed quite a reputation for creating strong brands in the tech firm sector. It worked with Apple, Microsoft, Uber, Sony Ericsson, Skype, Virgin Media, TikTok, as well as Spotify.
The company is experienced in both B2B and B2C markets and is known for being innovative and aware of modern trends. It is also known for its focus on scalability and adaptability — both of which are crucial in the tech sector.
The company is known for its quality and for ensuring that its branding solutions will have room to grow further as the companies evolve and change to satisfy the market demand.
4. Interbrand
Nearing the end of the list, we have Interbrand, which has served many major clients, including Disney, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Apple, Amazon, IBM, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Nike, and others. It is an excellent option for the largest global brands, especially if they want to take a new, disruptive twist and bring something innovative to their respective industries.
The company knows what it takes to stand out in the market, as it did the same for itself, becoming one of the highest-ranking brand services. It is not afraid of taking a new, unique approach, even if it challenges conventional thinking. In fact, this type of innovation is what draws clients to it.
Its team is particularly skilled at identifying what makes its client unique and then focuses on putting that aspect at the core of the brand. Given the success of its clients, you can see its work for yourself.
5. Siegel Gale
Our final entry is Siegel+Gale, which is a branding company that puts a strong emphasis on simplicity and clarity. The firm believes in a straightforward approach, understanding that brand simplicity can be less distracting and more beneficial, as it lets the brand stand out and connect with the audience with greater efficiency.
It uses this minimalist design in naming, brand strategy, customer experience, and identity design. Still, its approach has been quite successful, allowing it to stand out and attract customers such as Verizon, American Express, Pfizer, Sony, Nokia, and even McDonald’s.
The firm’s unique angle has been able to ensure that companies’ core values get communicated effectively and directly, which inspires trust due to the brand’s apparent honesty and transparency.
How to Start Using a Branding Service?
With plenty of branding companies at your disposal, all that remains is for you to select the one that best fits your needs, contact it, and explain your requirements and potential ideas. Of course, you should determine your exact needs first in order to identify which of these or other branding firms might be the best fit for you.
So, research different agencies, define your budget, go through the consultation process, and then make your decision. If the ideas seem solid and the price looks affordable, then you have probably found your perfect pick.