Brand Scammed! How to Avoid Buying the Wrong Branding Solution

BRANDSCAMMED!
How to avoid buying the wrong branding solution

By Axle Davids, CEO, Distility™

BRANDSCAMMED!
HELP PREVENT YOUR PEERS
FROM GETTING BRAND SCAMMED
Please post this on your blog or email it to whomever
you believe would benefit from reading it.
http://www.distility.com/brand-scammed/

© 2010 by Axle Davids
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 3.0.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Axle Davids, founder of Distility™ Branding, is a
recovering brand expert and pioneering brand
technologist. In 2001, he established aXle® Branding,

1 team + 1 day = 1 brand which focused on branding and design for industry
innovators like AT&T Mobility, Applied Biosystems, and
AutoShare Car Sharing Network. This venture has now
evolved into Distility Branding, a company that is forging
a new path with its innovative Distility 1day1brand™
workflow and pragmatic branding approach.

Reach him at axle@distility.com or on twitter at @axle.

“ BRANDING IS ILL-DEFINED, USUALLY
VACUOUS, OFTEN EXPENSIVE AND
TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE.”

”
SETH GODIN
SETH GODIN’S BLOG

BRAND SCAMMED! How to avoid buying the wrong branding solution 4

As a recovering brand expert, I am here to tell you that I still love and believe
in branding. But here is the naked truth: Branding is broken and you – the
buyer – must beware.

Branding refers to the creation and development of brands. Branding is still, as
it is most often practiced, a complete and utter mess. Branding is more occult
than voodoo, more expensive than yachting, and more dangerous than lawn
darts. Branding is slower than rust, more frustrating than roadwork, and has a
return on investment somewhat less measurable than prayer. Big agency-style

BRANDING IS BROKEN.
branding is the product of a time when business moved slowly, budgets were
big, and television was an exciting new medium. And do-it-yourself branding
can be a grand adventure, like going for a drive in the country with no map and
a quarter tank of gas.

Blame the experts. Since they excel at differentiating ideas, they’ve created
more proprietary methods and gobbledygook than you can imagine – from
models so complicated they should come with a decoder ring, to those so
haphazard and elementary you might consider tacking them up on the fridge
next to your kid’s art.


Blame the branding wannabes. Those who have “worked on a brand” so they
claim they do “branding”, so most brand development ignores basic best
practices and produces underwhelming results.

Blame human nature for the politics and decision-making pathologies that can
set even the best project intentions on the road to brand hell.

Despite these frights, we know that branding can be fast and safe, it can
involve your team and reflect your values, and it can help you break through

“
stagnating groupthink to a clear understanding of who you show the world.
Good brand development can lead to good brand marketing, which can
optimize and increase awareness, sales, and loyalty. Who wouldn’t want that?

INCOMPREHENSIBLE VOODOO

”
GUY KAWASAKI
THE ART OF THE START This eBook is not just about helping you choose the right vendor or hire, but
about helping you navigate the branding landscape. In fact, the do it yourself
route may be the right fit for your firm. This is our effort to save you from the
heartache and headache of committing to the wrong branding solution. We
will provide you with the guidance and tools you need to help cut through the
complexity of branding and find the right solution for you. While we do believe
that brand development is necessary if you want to remain competitive, we also
believe it doesn’t have to be a necessary evil.


This scam is by far the biggest of all Brand
Scams and leads to the worst brands of all.

The typical story is a client who needs a
branding deliverable like a website or lead
generation campaign. They ask their internal
resource or a vendor to do a logo, tagline, or
“figure out our brand” while they are at it.

BRAND SCAM ONE The vendor may be well intentioned but
ignorant about brand analysis, strategy or

BUYING TOO LITTLE standards. They may be overconfident, a
branding wannabe who figures that since they
have worked “on a brand” they are capable of
creating one. Or they may be cynical, preferring
to avoid the heavy thinking and collaboration of
brand analysis and brand strategy, and just get
a billable deliverable out the door.

But the real person to blame here is the buyer.
If you still think branding is just a logo, or a
slogan, or a brainstorm, you are kickin’ it old-
school – and not in a cool retro way.


Too many branding vendors bank on
the fact that you are lost in the branding
quagmire, so they can sell you more than you
really need. Less common, but still a concern,
is the in-house resource who is going to take
your project down the rabbit hole, drawing it
out, maybe never to get it done.

Because branding is sold as art, as science, and

BRAND SCAM TW0 as everything inbetween, there are no standard
deliverables in the industry. What can you do?

BUYING TOO MUCH We want to make sure you’re not an easy target,
so we have to use branding speak now
to explain the basic branding deliverables that
any sane vendor or hire would use. Use them as
a baseline to compare the deliverables vendors
and hires will recommend as well as to detect
unnessary or hidden costs your vendor or hire
may be neglecting to share.

We promise, it will be over soon.

These deliverables fall into four major types of
BRANDING WORK...


THE FOUR TYPES ONE FOUR
OF BRANDING WORK BRAND ANALYSIS BRAND MARKETING
The work of learning about your The work to increase, monitor and
audience, market, competitors, and manage brand awareness, brand
your own brand’s current strengths consideration, and brand loyalty. Your
and weaknesses. choices and channels are informed by
your marketing strategy.
TWO
BRAND STRATEGY On the next page, you’ll see
The work that defines the ideas specific deliverables associated
behind the best possible brand with these steps
(or system of brands) to support
your business strategy.

THREE
BRAND STANDARDS
The work that brings the brand
strategy to life in the form of
names, tag-lines, colours, logos,
and re-usable verbal and visual
guidelines.


THE FOUR MAJOR TYPES OF BRANDING WORK
BASIC DELIVERABLES
ONE TWO THREE FOUR
BRAND ANALYSIS BRAND STRATEGY BRAND STANDARDS BRAND MARKETING
Customer analysis Brand Promise* Verbal system* Brand Transition Campaign
Primary audience, secondary Brand Personality* name, descriptor, domain name, Employee Brand Education
audience, key influencers, trends, Brand Position* tagline*, headline style, copy style Campaigns
needs, existing perceptions of Market Position Visual system* Awareness Campaigns
brand category Customer, need, frame of logo/wordmark, colour, typeface,
Lead Generation Campaigns
Competitor analysis reference, point of difference, style of layouts and imagery
Market position, brand position, reasons to believe Sales Campaigns
Digital templates
brand promise, brand personality, Value Proposition Website, intranet, blog, Loyalty Campaigns
strengths, weaknesses Functional benefits, emotional eNewsletter, YouTube skin, Twitter Brand Management Reports
Current brand audit benefits, features skin, logo animation, audio logo Brand Monitoring Reports
Current brand promise, brand Brand Architecture Printed stationery
personality, brand positioning, (for multiple brands) Business cards, letterhead,
history, strengths, weaknesses, labels, note cards, pocket folder,
Report(s) for the above
opportunities, threats, values, envelopes, report and proposal
portfolio analysis (for multiple covers, CD labels and packaging
brands) * Called “Brand Identity” deliverables
by some practitioners
Office templates
Report(s) for the above Presentation slides, letter,
memorandum, invoice, news
release, report, proposal, eBook
Event guidelines
Advertising guidelines
Signage guidelines


PHEW!

Did you make it through all that with your vision
intact? We did our best to be easy on you. But
we’re the exception. Since branding experts are
masters of differentiation, it only makes sense
that they will go the extra mile to come up with

BRAND SCAM THREE oh so sexy and unique jargon and systems.

Just remember that branding deliverables are
PROPRIETARY MODELS best when they are simple, easy to socialize,
and easy to scale. Proprietary models are
more than likely to leave designers, writers,
marketers, and your own team at a disadvantage
when it comes to interpreting and applying
your brand strategy.


PROPRIETARY GOBBLEDYGOOK / BRAND DRIVER™ / EYEOPENER™ /
BRANDAMPLIFIER™ / BANDCORE™ / BRAND PIVOT™ / THE TSE™ FRAMEWORK /
MINDJAB™ / ONE UNIFYING MESSAGE™ / PIVOTAL BRAND IDENTITY™ /
BRAND BELIEF SYSTEM™ / TREND-CENTRIC HUMAN BEHAVIOR MODEL™ /
NARRATIVE BRANDING® / IDEA® PROCESS / CONTEXT BRANDING®

If your branding expert, be they vendor or in-house
resource, can’t use basic branding terms like analysis,
strategy, promise, positioning, and personality, you
are in for a world of pain. Consider yourself warned.


Vendors will sometimes take on substancial
projects at cut-rate prices.

You get branding. You get an amazing deal.
What could go wrong?

Lots.

The vendor will be compelled to put richer
projects and proposals ahead of your meetings

BRAND SCAM FOUR and deadlines. They’ll be tempted to reduce
costs by cutting out steps on their side.They’ll

THE MARKDOWN be pressured to save time by emailing the work
to you instead of taking the time to properly
present and get feedback. They’ll see this
as an opportunity to improve their margins,
using junior resources or less expensive
sub-contractors.

Sadly, even a deal from a trusted, committed,
no-corners-cut vendor will sour and get resentful
if it is too slow, or too complicated, or reflects
any of the other Brand Scams in this eBook.


What do you sell?
Who is going to buy it?
Who else can offer them a competitive solution?

If the answer to any one of these questions
eludes you, buying branding will not make
them magically appear. You’re just buying into
another Brand Scam - Doing branding before
business strategy.

For your brand to work, you first need to be
clear on what you are selling, who is buying,
BRAND SCAM FIVE and who you are competing against. You know,
basic business strategy stuff.
BRAND BEFORE BUSINESS You must first define your business strategy,
which you can either do internally or with the
help of market research, consultation, business
coaching, and the like. Then, you can proceed
through brand analysis, brand strategy, and
other branding work.

The evaluation on the next page will help you
to determine just what kind of branding work
you’re ready to do.


BRANDING ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT
SECTION ONE SECTION TWO
HOW WELL DOES YOUR FIRM KNOW ITS AUDIENCE? HOW WELL DOES YOUR FIRM KNOW ITS OFFER?

OPTION ONE STOP OPTION ONE STOP
We still need to think it through. You’re not ready for branding. Not very. Our offering is so new, You’re not ready for branding. Get
We don’t have enough data or This is a Business Strategy innovative or complex, we’re not back to your Business Strategy.
experience to feel confident about issue. aligned on exactly what we are
it. It will take a major effort to get offering as our brand.
this clarified confidently.
OPTION TWO CAUTION
OPTION TWO CAUTION Somewhat. We have our own Your firm requires brand analysis.
We sell to a few different types. Your firm requires brand term for what we are selling. It is Only by understanding your
But with information we have analysis. Although, if you are meaningful to us, but customers audience can you hope to get your
and our intuition, we can quickly confident enough, you may don’t get it. It takes some branding right.
define our customer. be able to do it quickly and education.
intuitively.
OPTION THREE
PROCEED!
OPTION THREE PROCEED! Very well. Just like “Kleenex”
Sounds like you may have done
We can describe our primary Sounds like you may have done sells “Tissue” and “Post-it” sells
brand analysis or will have an
buyer clearly with a good sense of brand analysis or will have an “Sticky Notes”, we can clearly
easy time of it. After that, move
their age, education, aspirations, easy time of it. After that, move describe in one, two, or three
on to brand strategy.
and pains. We can easily find on to brand strategy. words what we are selling and
real examples of our “typical” people instantly understand.
customer.

continued <

BRANDING ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT CONT.
SECTION THREE SECTION FOUR
ARE YOU CLEAR ON YOUR COMPETITORS? ARE YOUR BRAND CHALLENGES STRAIGHT-FORWARD?

OPTION ONE STOP OPTION ONE STOP
No. Our internal list of You’re not ready for branding. No. Our brand is failing and we’re You require Business Strategy
competitors is vague and This is a Business Strategy issue. not sure why. work. If the problem is related
fluctuating. Remember, competitors don’t to brand perception, then you
have to be direct ones. require brand analysis work.

OPTION TWO CAUTION
OPTION TWO CAUTION Not sure. We’re not sure all You require brand analysis, or
Yes, but fuzzily. We are confident Your firm requires brand analysis. our brands are even needed in even Business Strategy Analysis.
we know our competitors but we the first place. We may have a “Brand Architecture” work is
have not studied their strategy, problem of “over-branding”. If probably required, and can be a
positioning, or messaging. We not that, then we have different major effort.
need to find the time to do this, brands and we’re not sure how
or get help. they should both work together
and address different customers.
OPTION THREE PROCEED!
Yes, and accurately. We are You may be ready for brand OPTION THREE PROCEED!
routinely competing against a strategy or brand standards work. Yes. We have just one corporate You are likely ready for branding.
small number of competitors, brand and/or multiple brands that
which we can name, and have do not overlap or cause confusion.
analyzed. Or we are competing Thought not in crisis, the brand(s)
against a large number of can stand to be improved.
competitors that we have grouped
and analyzed.


We’ve all heard that politics have no place
in polite conversation. Well, we’re not talking
those politics. We’re talking about a brand

BRAND SCAM SIX scam here where human nature is to blame.
In 23 in-depth interviews with brand marketers,

PLAYING POLITICS we heard that the hardest part of branding is
getting stakeholders to agree on brand direction,
and that branding projects primarily fail due
to group decision-making pathologies or
political dysfunctions.


WILL POLITICS DERAIL YOUR BRANDING?
Nothing’s certain, but we have If this sounds like your team… Then you should…
included a table with some
Our projects are typically stymied Try and find work at a new company. If you
characteristics and dynamics of
by bureaucracy, and/or egos, can’t do that, try and employ one of the
different types of teams. Take a and/or groupthink. facilitator types we discuss later in this eBook.
look, see which characteristics
hit closest to home, and check We don’t feel there is a need for rebranding, Proceed with caution. Try to ensure that
out our recommendations for but someone wants changes will not worsen brand repute.
how to proceed. to use it as an opportunity to Unnecessary branding can
make their mark. be seen as a sign of weakness, and can just as
easily undo previous branding efforts.

We lack brand and/or other marketing Proceed with caution. Your branding project
experience, and/or have strong (even could be a great learning exercise, and an
domineering) players, and/or our leadership is opportunity for new voices to be heard. Just
disengaged from this kind of decision-making. be careful that it doesn’t stall in
the process

We openly discuss business / marketing Proceed confidently into your
concepts, explore new ideas, and are capable branding work.
of reaching healthy consensus.


So you have an idea of what kind of branding
you need to do – now what? It’s time to choose
how you are going to do it. Will you:

Do it in-house?
In-house branding is a common “no budget”
solution. It is a great way to engage entire
teams in the branding process. It is also an
opportunity to get lost down rabbit holes and
never find your brand.

TO INSOURCE
Leave it to the experts?
Brand developers do branding every day. They

OR TO OUTSOURCE?
know what to do – and what not to do. As
experts, they can produce brand outcomes that
drive loyalty and sales. But they can also have
antiquated perspectives on branding with a slow
process to match. They may be used to endless
budgets and try to sell you more than you need.

Work with a graphic designer, web designer,
or marketing generalist?
They may be a known factor and more
pragmatic than the experts, but their approach
may be about as effective as a plumber’s
approach to building a skyscraper.


Whether you choose to outsource or do your branding
in-house, you may have all sorts of characters involved
in the action. As vendors or team members, these people
fall into a few different categories, as outlined in the
pages that follow. Take a look – who would you like on
your team?

WHO SHOULD YOU ADD TO YOUR TEAM?
THE PROCEDURALIST?
THE INTUITIVE?
THE DABBLER?
THE DREAM TEAM?
THE FACILITATOR?


THE PROCEDURALIST
The Proceduralist is the luxury tailor of branding. With a Add to your team if:
formal, high-touch approach, the Proceduralist requires > Your answers on the Branding Assessment

numerous meetings and comprehensive planning point to the need for brand analysis.
exercises to customize your solution. The results are > You prefer a strategic, customized, in-depth approach.

often impressive, with polished deliverables based on a > You are prepared to engage in a formal,

strong brand foundation. The Proceduralist is well suited multi-phased process.
to brand analysis and Brand Tracking and Monitoring,
Find a better match if:
and also does well with many aspects of brand strategy.
> You don’t have the time, budget or patience
Tactical creative expressions such as brand names,
for a lot of meetings.
designs or campaigns may be challenging for the left-
> Your brand challenges are routine and straight-forward.
brained Proceduralist.
Beware of:
> Paying for too much “thinking,” too many

documents, not enough action.
> Being pitched every possible deliverable and more in the
first two columns of the branding services
table as a billable item. (See page 11).


THE INTUITIVE
Somewhat like a mystic, the Intuitive instinctively feels Add to your team if:
out the missing pieces and visualizes the solution to a > You have concrete ideas about your brand.

more compelling brand. As creative types often eschew > Your brand is not in crisis.

convention, this style lacks formal process. None the > You need professional pieces you can use, and fast.

less, with the right blend of people and ideas, this > You are prepared to trust your brand to intuition.

approach can make magic – efficiently, even. Intuitives
can produce high impact designs, making Brand Identity
> You need to see a plan up front.
deliverables their sweet spot. They can excel at
> You are looking for Brand Tracking & Monitoring.
brand strategy and brand analysis, but don’t expect
> Your team has not explored or committed to core
a paper trail.
brand concepts, and needs facilitation to get there.
> You seek collaboration.

> You want proof of how the Intuitive’s work

conforms to best practices.

Beware of:
> Those who cannot prove success with the

intuitive approach.


THE DABBLER
The Dabbler can do branding, but we all know that “can” Add to your team if:
doesn’t mean “should”. The Dabbler does not practice > Someone on your team has had a career in

branding as a core competency or have the thousands of a brand-centred industry.
hours of experience required of an expert. The Dabbler’s > Your branding team wants to learn branding

industry-specific expertise or a close familiarity with the best practices.
project may override those issues. Confidence, interest, > You don’t have the budget for more than one resource.

and aptitude can drive positive outcomes through a > You value industry expertise over branding expertise.

virtuous circle of team and circumstance.
> You can’t afford the learning curve.

> You need a clear, proven solution to your

brand challenges.

Beware of:
> Damage caused by a lack of brand analysis and

brand strategy
> Brand failure due to brand standards work (names,

logos, taglines) that infringes on trademarks or has
negative cultural, linguistic, or .com associations
> Losing time due to the learning curve or

getting sidetracked.
> Having your budget disproportionately spent on the

Dabbler’s area of expertise.


THE DREAM TEAM
This team consists of some combination of Add to your team if:
Proceduralists, Dabblers, and Intuitive branding > You like working with (or currently have) a diverse team.

professionals. You get the best of all of these individuals, > You have the budget to put toward a team of this nature.

including structure, creative input, and an ability to look > You see branding as part of a bigger strategy, and

into tactics and execution. A team such as this is often want access to broad expertise.
part of a bigger, more expensive marketing, advertising, > You have clarity about team roles and responsibilities.

or design machine that can handle the full spectrum of > You see branding as a continuous investment vs.

brand deliverables. Otherwise, it is one requiring you to a point in time solution.
invest a lot in order to build.
> You do not have the budget for a large firm’s

services or you don’t have the time to manage a
Dream Team yourself.

Beware of:
> The bait and switch. The team that sells the

dream may not be the team that does the work.


THE FACILITATOR
The Facilitator is often someone with a background in Add to your team if:
coaching, team building, or organizational development,
> Either you or the Facilitator are clear on a
who takes a collaborative approach to whatever they do.
brand model and methodology.
The Brand Facilitator has a core competency in Branding
> You are confident in your team’s ideas.
to boot. They use workshops and brainstorming to help
> You have a limited budget for outside help.
with brand analysis, brand strategy and brand marketing.
In all cases, the Facilitator relies on your expertise to Find a better match if:
drive productive conversations around your customers, > You prefer to have an expert fix your brand challenges.

competition, and brand direction. > You don’t trust your team to know the business strategy

and pre-requisites for brand strategy.

Beware of:
> Barriers to collaboration within your own team – from

teammates who do not wish to explore the brand to
authoritarians who will not commit to ideas that are
not their own. These barriers can impede the progress
and undermine the value of this approach.

SHAMELESS PLUG
Here at Distility, we consider ourselves
brand facilitators with a technology twist.
Click here to find out more.

Pop quiz! No, not for you - we’ve made you
think enough. This one is for potential vendors

IDENTIFYING
or internal candidates you may be looking at to
help with your branding work. The questions

THE BRAND SCAM
on the following pages are based on branding
best practices, and our own experience of

EIGHT CRITICAL
what works the best when it comes to building
compelling brands. If you can stump your

LINES OF QUESTIONING
potential branding hire with these, it wasn’t
meant to be.


ASK THEM...
WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE?
The best way to know how a vendor VERY SPECIFICALLY ASK…
or team member can help you is to
> How many years have you been > What was your most successful
understand how they’ve helped others
doing branding? project? Why?
in the past.
> Who are your current customers? > Least successful? Why?
Understanding whether your
candidate has the right experience to > Who are your past customers? > Have your previous clients been
help you means knowing who they’ve able to understand and share
> Who is your longest held customer?
worked with, they type of work they’ve your brand model with others? Or
done - and whether it aligns with > What percentage of your work is have they required an education
the work you need, and the types of brand analysis? brand strategy? program to do so?
brands they’ve worked on. brand standards? brand marketing?
Other?
> What percentage of your work is
on new brands? Doing rebranding?
Working on existing brands?

DOWNLOAD
All the questions (and more) in this section can be downloaded in
one handy-dandy spreadsheet. Visit www.distility.com and go to
our resources/tools section. Or if your reader permits, click here.


ASK THEM...
WHAT IS YOUR BRAND MODEL?
Be sure to work with someone who ASK…
can tell you, in plain English, exactly
Draw a diagram of how you will You use the term __________?
what his or her brand model is and
explain what a brand is to our team. I’m not familiar with that. Is it widely
how it is delivered.
What exactly are the ideas contained known, or something you’ve created?
in the diagram? Is there a more popular term for
the same idea?
If you don’t get it instantly, then say
so and see if their explanation is If they use terminology that is not
satisfying. on page 11, they may take a super-
proprietary approach. That can
Is this diagram your own invention?
make it hard to transfer their work to
If not, where did you find it?
your team and other marketing and
They may have learned it at a communication vendors.
successful packaged goods company,
from a leading agency or thought
leader, or (gulp) from a PowerPoint
template they found on the web.


ASK THEM... WHAT ARE
YOUR MAJOR MILESTONES?
Be sure they connect the theory ASK THEM... AND ALSO...
of their model/methodology to the
How did you apply your brand model > What would the milestones
tangible deliverables at the end of
and milestones to two projects you be for this project?
brand analysis, brand strategy, brand
have completed?
standards, or whatever stage of > What accomplishment does
branding you are seeking to get done. Be wary about those who won’t each milestone represent?
show you other client work. Their > How much time do I and our
customers should be willing to allow
internal team need to invest
them to write case studies, or they
towards each milestone?
should have found a way to make a
couple of generic case studies, or
even without formal case studies they
should be able to illustrate how they
have used branding to specifically
benefit a business.


ASK THEM... WHAT’S DELIVERED
BETWEEN THE MILESTONES?
You must be able to get a clear VERY SPECIFICALLY…
answer about what each milestone
Ask to see a project plan from one of Also, ask to see sample
entails, when it will be delivered,
their projects. It is fine if they need to documents at each step.
and in what format and environment.
scrub out any client details.
This will ensure your team navigates This might seem like a big ask, but
the branding process with clarity and What you want to see is what the if they are organized and have done
confidence, leading you to better deliverables are, how many document this enough times, it is easy to put
outcomes. drafts lead to each deliverable, together. Again, if confidentiality is
and how much time they give your an issue, indicate that you would be
team to review their work. You also willing to see scrubbed documents in
want to see how much is delivered, person. It is not the content that you
discussed, done in person rather seek, (yours will be different) but it is
than emailed or done via tele/web the form you need to see.
conference.

REMINDER
The goal of these questions is to ensure your in-house resource
or outside vendor isn’t selling you some Voodoo branding
approach, nor one that is absurdly complex beyond your needs.


ASK... WHO WILL DELIVER?

Earlier in this eBook, we mentioned DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR…
the risk of the old “bait and switch”.
> The CVs or Linkedin profiles of
Be sure you’re not tricked by the
everyone who will be working on
smooth talking top gun(s) impressing
the project
the heck out of you, only to discover
> What they are responsible for
later that a junior resource is doing
working on, and delivering (not the
the work. This trick doesn’t only
same thing)
happen with a vendor – it can also
> Assurance that no other people
apply to the internal resource who has
will do said work without your
someone else doing the heavy lifting.
express permission


ASK... HOW WILL YOU
LEVERAGE OUR TEAM?
A brand is only as good as the VERY SPECIFICALLY ASK…
team that delivers it. So it is
> How important is the team to > Can you provide an example of how
important to find out how your
your process? you educate our team, customers,
in-house or hired resource is going
> What role do both immediate and and vendors about the changes to
to leverage your team.
extended brand stakeholders play the brand / the new brand.
in your approach? > Will your brand deliverables dovetail

> How much time do you require easily with the deliverables other
per person, or as a group? vendors and departments are
> What do you do if stakeholders have working upon? How?
conflicting opinions about
the brand?


ASK... (TRICK QUESTION) WHAT
RETURN ON INVESTMENT CAN
WE EXPECT WORKING WITH YOU?
Frankly, very few people can Instead look for the person who says, The obvious answers will be an
categorically prove the Return on “It is hard to measure the Return on increase in awareness, consideration,
Investment of a branding project in a Investment of our work here, there sales, and loyalty. The more
scientific manner. Branding has a lot were so many factors at play or things interesting ones will relate to the
to do with ideas and intangibles. If we’re not privy too, but our clients benefits to you, and your team, in
they are able to prove it categorically gave us great feedback on our efforts your efforts to succeed.
then that is terrific. But most and they’d be happy to tell you about
branding people aren’t working under the advantages of working with me/
the conditions that allow them to do our team.”
so. It’s when these folks try and BS
Ask Them...
an answer that you should be wary…
There will be more BS to come. > How will you specifically measure
success from this project?
> What will be the benefits our team,
our brand, and our organization will
experience?


ASK THEM... HOW SOCIABLE AND
SCALABLE IS THEIR METHODOLOGY?
Quality branding has always been Ask Them... Key Point
about being relevant, compelling, > How will our team see their passion A person who takes the time to listen
and unique. But with the boundaries reflected in the brand strategy? to the different voices in your team
between customer, team, and vendors and to encourage exploration is able
> How can the brand strategy be
blurring thanks to technology, your to support the development of a
applied by the team without outside
business may also need a brand that clearer and more authentic brand
experts - for instance, when a last
is social and scalable. If that sounds strategy. This may require a simpler
minute marketing opportunity
like you, here are some additional approach to branding. Not to be
comes up
questions to help choose someone mistaken with “dumbing down”, this
who will foster authentic engagement > Based on the brand model you approach uses simplicity to empower
through brand development… (presumably) showed earlier, is it faster brand socialization and scaling.
easy for any kind of team member It can help you turn the hours and
to grasp and share the work, or does dollars you spent on brand strategy
it require an “education program” into brand experiences that truly
so that everyone both understands resonate with your target audience.
and retains it?


Congratulations – you made it! You have arrived
at the end of the road, ready to take on your
branding challenges knowing where branding
can go awry and how to avoid that costly fate.
You have the tools in hand to select the right
vendor and branding approach to develop a
brand that truly reflects the personality and
values of your team.

If you haven’t already, please download the
comparison spreadsheet we’ve created. Use it to

YOUR FINAL DECISION evaluate your branding vendors or candidates.
It includes the questions you should be asking
anyone who will touch your brand, and it will
help you choose the vendors or candidates who
can deliver against best practices and fit your
own culture and values.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEET

Now, go on out there and build a better brand.


PLEASE... BEFORE YOU GO...
DON’T LET YOUR FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES
GET BRAND SCAMMED.
Please consider emailing them this eBook, or send them the link:
http://www.distility.com/brand-scammed/

As for you, we invite you to join the conversation on
Twitter via @1day1brand, on our site blog at www.distility.com,
or by email to axle@distility.com

Brand Scammed! How to Avoid Buying the Wrong Branding Solution
by Axle Davids
CEO, Distility, www.distility.com

Brand Scammed! How to Avoid Buying the Wrong Branding Solution

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