We recently heard about a small agency that was beaten out of a sizable assignment because the client did not think they had enough experience in branding.
Horse hockey! (As Colonel Potter used to say on “M.A.S.H.”)
Most agencies have all the tools they need to work on brand assignments at almost any level. Branding is simply applying to a product or service all the good strategic marketing tools that most of us learned during our first five years in the business. It combines research, competitive knowledge and customer insights with an understanding of the client’s culture and goals. It’s amazing to us how much advertising agencies have let themselves be finessed by companies claiming to be brand consultancies… meaning they will charge lots of money to tell you stuff you already knew.
“We need a company with experience in branding,” your client says as they slit your throat by giving a major assignment to some company that claims the branding chip more aggressively than you do. Of course, you suck it up, make do and execute the work the branding company recommends. Finally, when the drivel they present is brought forward in a slickly bound 356-page report (most useful as a doorstop by the client), you are stuck with fixing it up so it can see the light of day.
Small agencies should want some of that. And we want you to have some, too. So, do us a favor: from this point forward in your life, you are a branding expert. Put it on your business cards and on your letterhead. Advertise it in the Business Journal. Let all the world know that your agency is a first-class branding specialist.
One thing you need is a document that will allow you to “flip” all the clients who may not think you have the goods to be a branding specialist.
We are very proud to present to you the Branding Report Card. Use this document to convince your clients that you are serious about branding. It works this way: you sell them this service before any real branding work proceeds.
Everyone likes to take quizzes. Your client is no exception. Have your agency facilitate one or more discussion sessions using the Brand Report Card questions, present the client with a report on the results, and you will establish yourself as a branding expert. The clients, because they have helped to complete the report card, are in complete agreement with the conclusions. The only thing remaining is to execute the branding process, which should go a long way toward giving you wonderful profits this year.
What are you waiting for? There’s a whole new world of branding out there for your agency. Now remember the steps.
Tell everyone “WE ARE A BRANDING AGENCY.”
Sell the brand report card (price it at or about $10,000).
Once clients believe you are a branding specialist, and the report card is finished, charge them more for the branding work. This work can range from a name change, to a new logo, to market repositioning, to a completely new brand.
Implement the brand work in ads, brochures, outdoor, radio spots, public relations, and online.
This is how you can have all the pieces of the pie.
