|
Over the next several months, you?ll be provided with several important and relevant marketing suggestions needed in jumpstarting your business.
Creating a Logo for your Business
Developing a look or logo for you business is easy right? If you?re like many other entrepreneurs, you?ve probably envisioned this chapter as being the easiest part of the process.
After all, spending time as you have in getting the business logistics together as well as the network of vendors and partners needed to succeed was invariably what you saw as the most time consuming part of the endeavor. But then, somewhere along the way, you realized, as others have too, just how important the logo would be to your business. It?s the first step towards being able to forge a brand. Remember that a logo is not your brand, but the symbol of who you are. The brand is the inherent feeling one gets about the company or product.But, let?s get back to our logo. Creating a logo would be simple if you could extract the emotion out of the effort and concurrently have the luxury of standing over the design process without prejudice or stress. If you could surgically block out the outside influences that jade creative input, you might just be able to cultivate a logo that would stand the test of time, allow consumers to make a connection with you and quite literally, assist them in easily understanding your brand offering in the simplest of terms.
How then is it possible to check (albeit briefly) your passion at the door, shelf countless hours of rigorous in-the- trench due diligence on creating the “perfect” business plan and endless days of preparation, to create a logo that will be everything you need it to be when you finally go to market? It will be more difficult if you go it alone and refuse to enlist support from key members of your team who will be part of your budding enterprise. You?ll get great input and have excited participation. Don?t leave them behind on your journey forward. Knowing how important this initiative really is will transform your colleagues in ways un-imaginable.
But beware, Including others in the development process, although prudent can also be frustrating, particularly when you have pre-conceived notions of how you believe your business should be presented. Having to hear conflictive or contrary suggestions on what your company?s logo must be represented can be very frustrating at this very topsy turvy stage of your life cycle in business.
The rewards however will far outweigh the negatives as the result is more buy-in and dedication to the business from those trusted friends and employees who are part of the journey. The entrepreneur tends of course to feel that he/she can do most of this all by themselves. Failing to bring in challenging or contrary opinions leads to a uni-dimensional approach that at best will be mediocre and compromised. The opportunity presented by a free flow of ideas allows for plentiful suggestions, of which one will always evolve towards being the undisputed logo for your company.
Let?s walk through a painless and simple methodology of how to get the job done. It?s reliable, efficient and allows you a level of comfort and security knowing that you?ll have a logo for your business within short order and most importantly, a corresponding “look” that will serve as the basis for all things “communication” that leaves your business on a daily basis.
Step One ? Seek out a partnership with a professional Graphic Designer. Look towards someone who has created logos or corporate packages for companies in a successful manner. Find someone who is proficient, not just in your industry, but within a variety of businesses. Why, because, you won?t be relegated to a cookie cutter approach to the logo that looks like everyone else in you own industry. You must have a unique logo that is distinctly you. Beware of the logo guys. They are everywhere and ready to create magic for you. Are you aware that you can on the internet where you can get 10 logos for $500. on the internet? Buyer beware! You?ll never get to know them. They?ll never get to know you, but they aren?t interested in that anyway.
Step Two ? Engage the Designer in a discovery session where they?ll sit with you and your team. A good Designer will ask a great deal of questions, probe about your business, understand your culture and personality and learn what the essence of your company is all about. Remember, the more they know about you and the company, the easier it becomes for them to design for you. You don?t need to see 10 logos for $500, you only need a logo that is “on target, on message and simple to understand”. It must speak to the soul of your business but not be so complicated that people just don?t get it.
Step three ? Now armed with all of the information, you should expect your Designer to return with a series of logos that best represent what your business stands for. We recommend that logos be presented to our new clients in black and white, only so that they are not prejudiced by color on what is the best logo. If the logo is the right logo, it will work in black/white and in color. At this stage you should select the one or two that most closely hit the mark. Explain what it is that you like and dislike about the others you have eliminated so that the Designer understands why it is that you have moved on and past those renditions.
Conversely, explain what it is that made you select the two that work for you.
Step Four ? Given your preference, the designer will now return with revised logos that take into consideration your input. You?ll most likely begin to see a color application where the logo you have agreed to is rendered in a variety of colors.
Step Five ? Once you have selected a color and the logo that best depicts you company, your Designer will show you what it will look like in variety of applications (business cards, stationery, envelopes, labels, etc.). Some Designers even bring these in during Step Four.
Congratulations, you are now free to begin your journey in earnest. The ability to establish and create buy-in for a logo that most appropriately represents your business is critical towards your success. Yes, it?s true that consumers don?t buy you for your logo, but consider the power of a recognizable logo? In the case of the famous Nike Swoosh, it?s not the logo necessarily that drives us to purchase, but the feeling we get about the company from seeing the logo.
Consequently, you?ll need to embark on that same journey towards establishing a recognizable logo first. You?ll succeed with your service and business offerings in creating the “feeling afterward. Now that you have your logo, work hard to maintain a consistent look through all of your various “touchpoints”. Any person (prospect, client, vendor, partner) that you or your employees interact with must see your logo and “look” uniformly presented everywhere they interact with you. Any deviation from standards on how the logo must be used is injurious to your business?s health.
Nothing should leave your business that doesn?t have your new logo and “look” wrapped around it. Next time, we?ll look at what else should evolve from this process (e.g. web development or enhancement, internal/external communications, grass roots basics, etc.).
About Alan Brooks Design
Rocco Iacobellis is the SVP and Managing Partner of Alan Brooks Design. Rocco comes to Alan Brooks Design with more than 25 years of experience in the areas of business development, sales, marketing and strategic planning, having served in various executive management capacities and industry. Established in 1981, Alan Brooks Design is a strategic marketing firm specializing in innovative brand development. They help companies to create and strengthen their image or brand, launch new business ventures, promote special events, or advertise their products or services. Under the direction of President and Creative Director Alan Brooks, the marketing communications firm has become a leader in creating innovative logos and awesome sales and marketing tools. For more information, contact Rocco Iacobellis at 609.924.3838, or send him an email at
rocco@alanbrooks.com |
