There are many principles to branding that apply to SMEs as well as large global companies. It is very important to get the brand story and the visual identity right. It is equally important to consider how this will be implemented. How will the identity be consistently applied to different physical touchpoints at minimal cost? What processes need to be put in place to manage consistency across your printed collateral and marketing material? Each function of an organisation contributes towards the brand. What processes will you adopt capable of cohesively managing the brand across marketing, property, HR, sales and finance?

Although branding is a creative process you need to consider the practical aspects throughout the process to keep control of costs and consistency.

I hope this helps in some way.

I am new to this site and it’s been five months now since the article but I’ll give my comments for all it’s worth. The writer’s effort is commendable and it addresses something that affects the UK as well. A number of key questions has been raised:

1 who is doing anything to the companies and financial institutions that encourage individuals
without the appropriate level of income and experience to take up debts?

2. What is the media and the marketing profession (they support these businesses by helping them create the marketing programmes through which they encourage young people to take unnecessary debts) doing about it?

3. Who will bell the cat in taking decisive action to promote more awareness on social marketing as it relates to predatory marketing practices?

I think it’s only fair to re-open this discussion and see what ideas people come up with. Who knows we may yet cause some change to happen.

1. It seems there is a general consensus that branding is very expensive business. If this is correct, is there no way to brand effectively without a huge financial outlay?

2. It also appears that the issues raised are geared more towards businesses that are already established and have the financial muscle to absorb the ‘expensive costs’. What advise can you then offer to new SMEs that would like to ‘get branding issues right’ from the outset?

Would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thanks.

While I have worked for companies that have been relatively determined to integrate their acquisitions under their brands, I recently worked for a company whose M&A strategy (unbeknownst to me) was to acquire companies that it could dissolve itself into, then tank its brand. A bizarre twist on M&A and branding.

So I’ve seen it all. But anyway, adequately executed branding will involve investment in time and some cost. But be warned!

I think you raise a valid point, after all so many companies have been through this process successfully without such an advisor. However, it would be interesting to know if these companies actually know how much their rebrand really cost them, or whether many costs were lost within various departments. Particularly large rebrands involving 10,000+ employees in multiple countries for example, that not only have to consider it’s marketing communications, advertising and packaging but it’s entire printed collateral, signage, vehicle liveries, digital assets, clothing and branded environments – not forgetting local interpretations, suppliers and shipping costs.

In order to set realistic budgets and timescales from the outset that cover the entire implementation programme – including everything from the total cost of global print productions to a local planning application for a sign in Brazil – implementation experience is essential. And an implementation specialist’s skill is not only providing hard costs but putting together the most cost efficient route.

Having an implementation adviser from the outset can ensure that the proposed creative is achievable within the allocated budget and timeframe. More often than not, the brand design is compromised because it cannot be physically manifested within budget and the supply chain cannot deliver to the required standard within the timeframe.

Having re-branded a company or two, and many acquisitions, my own shared-experience is that it is useful to provide some really good tools and guidance as you go through this. In M&A, there is this ghastly process which exists but which can be used to fund some branding, and there you have to go to “good will” within which some reasonable branding and communications can be accomplished.