Many designers who work in branding have been witnessing — and growing alongside — the discipline.
While just a few years ago, those of us dedicated to design were typically called upon to work strictly on brand identity development, today the landscape is far more diverse and expansive.
We are entering the era of “business-savvy” designers — professionals who are more conscious and equipped with tools that demonstrate how branding work can strengthen business health. Grab a coffee or tea and enjoy the read.
Design, marketing, positioning and business
Let’s be realistic: not all businesses are born in ideal contexts, having incorporated a methodology like the ones described in textbooks, nor, frequently, with an initial vision they were able to execute without experiencing detours, course corrections, or shifts resulting from market opportunities and fluctuations.
What role does branding play in those situations where we receive founders who have already traveled a path but feel they need clarity in how to communicate their offer? Well, it plays quite an important role.
Branding merges knowledge contributed by professionals from diverse fields — design, business administration, marketing, business development, and advertising, to name just a few.
In this sense, branding can be understood as a branch of marketing focused on helping businesses establish brand management capable of transcending the short term.
Like marketing, branding oscillates between the strategic and the operational, and we often encounter clients who think what would strengthen their business is “a face-lift.” This mindset, while understandable, tends to be a moment of brutal honesty for us at Estudio Nómade:
“Your business won’t necessarily strengthen if you only change how it looks without addressing any other variable.”
Thus, we encourage our clients to focus on strategy first — studying their current reality to evaluate the brand management decisions they have made over time — and establish an optimized strategy that ultimately informs design decisions, marketing actions, and other decisions related to the business’s public expression. In some cases, we even put forward suggestions related to organizational design — that is, the way the business is managing and attending to its internal environment.
In this way, those of us who work in branding as designers integrate different fields of knowledge and connect with other experts to collectively raise business standards by applying a business-savvy mindset.
Some thoughts to reflect on how branding can accompany the evolution of your business
The starting point is never zero
Many businesses work on their branding without being aware that they are doing so. This is always good news: the starting point is never zero; we can always examine the existing reality of businesses, their products and services, to evaluate the implications they carry — both in terms of consumer perception and the competitiveness they express in the market.
Much of branding is about highlighting the efforts you make to keep your business running
In many cases, what’s needed is to highlight the efforts the business already makes to exist and sustain itself: we often see great products or services communicated in a haphazard way — an aspect that does not help when it comes to growth.
The British brand “LUSH” builds endless narratives in step with the creation and launch of new products.
La firma británica “LUSH” arma narrativas infinitas al compás de la creación y lanzamiento de nuevos productos.
The relevance of brand architecture
Reviewing brand architecture is key: it is very common in businesses that have had a short-sighted vision to find it necessary to study brand strategy and establish guidelines that — without losing what has been achieved — now strengthen it to pursue what’s ahead, enabling the business to grow in an organized way.
In this way, not only the brand, but also the business will achieve alignment: standards that make sense in how it organizes, delivers its offer, and activates the interest of the segments each unit of value is designed to reach.
Avoiding the trap of overpromising
It is important to avoid the “overpromise.” We are flooded with tips, recommendations, and even metrics confirming that today’s consumers are drawn to authentic, genuine brands — ones that don’t go after grandiose promises or show up claiming to be the best.
The connection between brand communication and the legitimate value proposition delivered by the product or service offered is another key factor for branding to favor the business rather than ultimately harming it.
Spotify is an authentic brand: it never talks about itself — it always talks about how great its artists and listeners are.
Spotify es una marca auténtica: nunca habla de sí misma, siempre habla de cuán geniales son sus artistas y sus oyentes.
Rebranding is not always the best decision
Airbnb 2009, Airbnb 2014. Ninguna empresa nace unicornio. ¿Te imaginás alguna vez a Airbnb teniendo que anclar en su logo qué hace distinta a su oferta de la oferta de los hoteles tradicionales? Sí, alguna vez lo ha necesitado aclarar, y varias veces el rebranding ha sido requerido.
Doing a “rebranding” is not always the best alternative. We often receive consultations and requests related to “resetting” the brand.
Many branding experts point out that, for a business, pursuing a complete brand redesign is a critical moment in both the life of the business itself and the reality of the organization — something that is only justified in scenarios that confirm it will indeed be the solution to a specific situation.
Airbnb 2009, Airbnb 2014. No company is born a unicorn. Can you imagine Airbnb ever having to anchor in its logo what makes its offer different from traditional hotels? Yes, it has needed to clarify that at some point, and rebranding has been required more than once.
Opt for a rebranding when:
- Your current identity no longer represents the reality of your offer;
- Your current identity is at a disadvantage compared to how your competitors manage communication;
- You are embarking on a repositioning process — that is, changing your target audience, shifting how you relate to your current audience, or transforming the strategy with which you hope to sharpen your market competitiveness.
The strategic and operational dimensions of branding hold great power: they allow businesses to expand beyond their products and services, shoring up the present and sketching out the future.
