Here are some compelling numbers for those who still doubt the importance of design branding.
In 2013, the Institute of Design Management developed the Design Value Index to measure the success of design-driven companies (1). These “design-driven” companies were selected based on a set of criteria reflecting design management best practices.
These companies were (and still are) Ford, Stanley Black & Decker, Whirlpool, and others; a total of 16 publicly traded companies. These companies were then compared to the S&P 500. Over a ten-year period, DVI returned 219% over the S&P 500.
If that doesn’t convince you that visual branding increases profits, perhaps this quote from Steve Forbes will help.
What exactly is the design of your brand identity?
To quote myself.
Brand identity is design:
Logo, colors and design style.
Business cards
Uniform
Photo
Packaging
Corporate identity design is essentially everything that visually represents your brand. It is both your perceived image and the visual elements that shape your brand as a whole. It is the first impression you make on your customers.
In essence, the visual design of your brand is the image you want to present to the world. It is the identity of your company. Are you a company that is capable of executing important and large projects? Then your visual brand design needs to reflect that. It should also reflect your values and quality, your intentions and reliability, like the logo design for construction companies and the corporate graphics for the top 10 US companies.
Visuals are critical – when the most used sources of information for industrial companies are websites, search engines and directories, your company branding needs to stand out to be at all successful (2). While we always stress the importance of good content, it’s the visual aspect of your brand that primarily grabs your audience’s attention.
A good visual brand design will give you these ompetitive advantages.
1. VALUE.
Professional branding immediately gives people the impression that you are an established, confident and trustworthy company. Of course, if you don’t invest in brand design, you can get the opposite impression. How much would you trust a construction company that does quality work if their logo is clipart and their website looks like it was designed by someone who just read the book “How to build a website for dummies”? Probably not so much. A well-designed logo and website can make the difference between a sale and a rejection.
A good example of the perceived value of a company’s visual branding is AD. AD is the largest marketing/purchasing group for construction and industrial suppliers and prides itself on providing a first-class service to its members. AD provides branding resources to all of its members to “fly the AD flag and communicate the value of partnering with AD to its partners and customers” (3). AD recognizes that by presenting a consistent, professionally developed image to its partners and customers, the value of its own brand continues to grow.
Conclusion
The time, effort, and money you invest in your branding can make the difference between winning a contract and bypassing it altogether. Simply put, invest in your image! Your branding is an essential part of your business and one of the key factors in the battle for customer attention.
If you’re reading this article, you may be wondering if hiring brand identity designer can help your business. Check out our marketing case studies to get an idea of how we can help you.
We can help you accomplish all of the points mentioned in this article. If you’re interested in working with us, send us an email so we can discuss what that might look like.
