Misaligned Branding: What is the true cost?
Recently I was having a chat with a very frustrated business owner, he was working 75-90 hr weeks just trying to keep his head above water. Time for family and leisure or even remotely having a life? Non-Existent. I could definitely sympathise with the situation, a lot of us have been there, especially in the thick of covid and having to constantly pivot the past few years.
We went through the marketing he was doing and what was working (to an extent) and what wasn’t. I asked him what kind of work he was wanting and who was his target market. When he told me it was the high-end clients and not those that are price shopping it became clear that the branding was misaligned as it didn’t give the perceived value of a high-end brand but was more those looking at low-middle range budgets.
Is it any wonder he was getting no enquiry for the level of client he was trying to attract? Branding is very perceptive, you are who you are perceived to be. You can fight that all you want but it’s just a fact. Humans are fickle creatures, show them something shiny and they will generally think it’s expensive right?
This business owner had only just had this branding refreshed which is what shocked me the most, because it was clear there was no brand strategy completed (see my other blog for ‘why I won’t whip up logos’) this is why brand strategy is so crucial. As we say ‘appeal to everyone and you’ll appeal to no one. It’s true but hopefully you aren’t going to find this out the hard way.
He also said a mate did it for him so it didn’t actually matter if he had to redo it all because it didn’t cost anything. Well well well friends it has indeed cost you quite a lot as it turns out.
That cost is something like below:
Sales
Time
Print cost for all new business cards or stationery, vehicle signage, anything you may have already had that branding applied to
Brand awareness
Burn-out due to all of the above
The proof is in the pudding, branding will take you far further than any marketing will in the long run which is evident by this business owner continuing to invest heavily in their marketing and still getting the wrong kind of leads from it. If you have those two bad boys working together instead of conflicting with each other a happy marriage will ensue.
There are those out there that do not see the value in investing in their branding, and that is what it is, an investment. To look at it simply as a cost implies you aren’t getting anything out of it which is simply not true. Take the bull by the horns and educate yourself and see what brand strategy can achieve, I dare you because the tune will be changed I can tell you that. A brand completed DIY versus a strategically crafted brand? There is no comparison in the long run but it does usually take a leap of faith from a business owner to find that out, or like this example it’s learnt the hard way the second or third time around.
Did you take anything from this? Let me know your feedback and if you even have a shred of doubt that this is something happening in your business slide back up there and book a clarity call instantly and we can hash out where your brand is at and where it could be going wrong.
What have you got to lose? 30 mins to be exact but the cost of doing nothing is substantially higher.
