So, you keep hearing this word Branding and it still makes no sense to you. What is it, really?
Branding is the act of deploying visual and verbal psychology, market research and customer data to connect your business with your customer's world.
It helps your business find alignment with customers and uses language systems in concert with marketing to carve a distinct and powerful presence in the marketplace.
So why does this matter?
Without branding, your business will fail to get off the ground. (unless you're in essential services or hold a monopoly.)
When you are new to branding, and need to acquire the right talent to conduct a rebrand, have this criteria in mind:
A Brand Steward: Find a designer who has at least 12-15 years in branding to be your key advisor. You will need a deeply experience designer onboard, whether as a creative director or your sole design expertise.
Brand Strategies ,Get experts who know how to create Brand Strategies. Have a deep understanding of the brand's goals and visionIdeally be an experienced marketerWork directly with the design team.Have authority to make high-level project decisions when internal discussions with the Core Team get stuck.
NYU Stern's valuation model demonstrates how brand perception influences enterprise value multiples of 1.67x to 2.88x, so that companies with strong branding like McAfee can command a 72% premium.
Applied to startups, this suggests that brand's achieving above-average recognition could theoretically command 50-70% valuation premiums at similar revenue levels.
Access to brand value transformation based on spend
This table compares the features you receive on average spend, by provider type.
This table compares the benefits and risks by provider type.
Provider Type
Benefits & RISKS
Fiverr/99designs
Very affordable
Risks: Quality varies a great deal. Many designers of low experience Many non-native language speakers stifle communication & expectations
Logomarks alone have limited impact on engagement Guiding the designer to a solution may require much effort
Upwork Freelancers
Quite affordable
Risks: Quality varies a great deal. Many designers of low experience Many non-native language speakers stifle communication & expectations
Finding and selecting an experienced designer can be difficult
Logomarks alone have limited impact on engagement Guiding the designer to a solution may require much effort
Independent Designers
High Quality Design in general. Some offer Brand strategy.
Risks: Designers have varied levels of expertise Finding and selecting an experienced designer can be difficult Rarely able to conduct enterprise-grade branding
Can take on small pockets of marketing load ie, content writing.
Risks: We Guarantee 60% uplift in engagement in 6 months or we'll keep building your brand until we succeed - (Details here).
Studios
High Quality, strategic, generally mid to strong experience. Studios have various strengths and weaknesses. Strategic planning, Customer profiling, Some cut the budgets by only developing simple brand systems.
Risks Management layers add complexity to project management. Higher costs for project management.
Agencies
High Quality, strategic, strong experience. Even able to share some of your teams marketing load. Strategic planning, Customer profiling, Strong enterprise expertise.
Risks Much higher costs for project management layers. Much more complexity in project management.
Why Strategy?
A proper branding process begins with strategy. In fact, strategy typically accounts for 30-40% of the total cost of a rebrand—and for good reason. As Neumeier explains in The Brand Gap, “The foundation of any great brand is clarity.”
Strategy provides that clarity by answering critical questions: Who are we? What do we stand for? Who are we trying to reach? How do we want them to feel?
When everyone aligns on these answers upfront, the design phase becomes smoother and more focused.
There’s less room for subjective debates (“I don’t like orange”) and more emphasis on what works for your audience.
The Scope Creep Factor
Note that not all branding projects are created equal. Some require additional elements—custom illustrations, mascots, animations, or even 3D design.
These bespoke assets real distinction to your brand - with depth and personality. They also require time and expertise increase costs by 20-70%.
For example: A custom mascot for a tech startup could cost an additional $10k.
Animated explainer videos might add another $15k-$30k. 3D designs for packaging or product visuals could push costs up by 25%.
These extras aren’t always necessary—but when done right, they can elevate your brand from good to unforgettable.
Why Alignment Matters
Here’s the truth: Good branding isn’t just impressing customers — it helps to align your team around a mission. Strong brand strategies helps everyone understand what truly matters for your business.
When alignment happens: Stakeholders tend to disagree less, and decisions are made with more ease. Campaigns feel cohesive across every touchpoint. But when alignment doesn’t happen? You end up with volatile situations where staff respond wildly differently to branding, advertising and marketing — and nothing gets done.
As Neumeier puts it: “A brand isn’t just a mark; it’s a promise.” And that promise starts internally—with your team.
B
selected data points and quotes
"If a scaleup were to change certain levers within its brand toolkit, it could see a 20% increase in interest from people", says Drew Usher, the Research Lead and Brand Strategy Director at Hotwire Australia
“Branding is a powerful yet undervalued tool by most tech scaleups, which prioritise product over brand. Striking a balance between function and emotion in brand communications is a huge opportunity."
Hotwire Australia, 2023
A study by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that campaigns with a strong visual identity were 27% more likely to report significant business effects, such as increased market share and sales (IPA, 2021).
Practicioners in Advertising, 2021
The human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text (IAS, 2022), making visual branding a critical component in capturing attention and conveying your brand's message.
IAS, 2022
According to research by Hubspot, infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than a written article and they can increase website traffic by up to 12% .
Hubspot, 2024
According to Vengage study in 2021, over 50% of marketers used visuals in over 91% of their content, wit 36% of all visual used being custom-created visuals for their brand.
Vengage, 2021
A Springer study found that people following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations.
SPRINGER
Four key takeaways:
Identifying your tribe aligns with values and vision, guiding like stars.
Focus on what customers can achieve with your product, suggests Jason Fried.
Generate warm leads, and cut down cold leads that hurt your bottom line on excess qualifying time.
Build your brand prestige, by effectively leverage your strategy, while remaining brand-cohesive.
Scott Beckman says customers buy emotions, not features or benefits.
Bain's Elements of Value enhance offerings, meeting a spectrum of desires.
