The Branding Novice.

A Quick Tale –

At the break of dawn, the streets were parked with millions of people rushing to their various destinations. It was a very usual sight everyday but today was different, as i noticed an old-timer dressed in modern style in the crowd. I couldn’t get enough of him as there was something unique about his appearance. I quickly got into anything i could wear, ran down the stairs and dashed onto the street; there he was just at the coffee shop. I summoned courage and went in to the coffee shop, to try getting some answers to my curious assumptions.

Looking over my shoulder i could see him dressed in a 2012 Boggi Milano suit, Bruno Magli shoes and a very italian like scent was oozing from his corner. I wanted to know who he was and after a few gulp of bravery, I walked towards him, and as i approached him, he uttered these words “curiosity is an admirable quality but sorted by few “.

• Translation

I was not the only one there that day but what seems less attractive to others was attractive to me, same is with brand values. Your brand values are built on the moral foundation and core qualities of your company, understanding that, helps you to identify your core markets and how to meet their expectations.

• The Branding Novice

In Africa , i have heard managers compare and complete their business quest with other company’s profiles , swapping ideas and literally start a business because of simple figures that seems ok.

A branding novice is an individual or entity that underestimates branding or ignorantly contributes to the reduction of its value due to the lack of understanding thereof.

In South Africa, about 1,900 businesses are registered daily but only 1/3 of those businesses actually take off. Many of which have no formal understanding of branding and if they do, it’s misunderstood as logo or stationary design. In the same light others source for branding services from wrong companies and never get the desired return. Relative are those who also seek cheaper means to fill the branding gap for their company and rather keep larger amounts for promotions and campaigns.

Its more unbelievable seeing big companies with no branding guidelines or manual , companies with adequate capital that can source and acquire such easily but due to the lack of understanding of the benefit of branding ignore it.

• Roots

The Root cause are varied , but there are some that are more rooted than others, Like the Service brokers, who portray themselves as specialist in a various field to get business and then outsource to any company. They are in business for cash and not the passion and thus are one of the forces creating the lack of seriousness toward brand consciousness.

Complicating matters even worse is the massive rise in the users of Photoshop suites all over the world and more seriously in Africa due to the access of designing tutorials online.

Graphic Designers are everywhere and posing as visual communications experts, branding and below the line marketing material producers. Formal training in Tertiary institutions even makes the matter worse, with the South African government encouraging accessible education to all. Many business entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the opportunity and started colleges and institutions that have no laid down syllabuses or teaching manuals.

• The Effect

All burns down to lifting the veil and giving the public the base story and facts to what branding is, and what it ought to be like in Africa. However, these facts have all impacted on the industry and reduced branding awareness and created Misrepresentation leading to the lack of benefit thereof for companies. Companies, elective business bodies, individuals (graphics designers) and institutions are all part in the conspiracy.

Last week on my Facebook wall, a company posted an advert to offer a whole branding package for R300, that’s less than $40, i thought that was worse until he offered me a discount of 20% if i process an order immediately. I was shocked but i pressed on to ask for his portfolio and what will be offered, when i checked the site , it was work copied from deviantART that was posted in portfolio and the package includes :

– Logo
– Letterhead
– Business card
– Flyer.

This reduces the value of branding and encourages more people to engage in such schemes, especially those who are in need of quick cash due to Africa’s high unemployment rate, thereby ridiculing or totally destroying the value of this wonderful profession.

• Doing Something about it

In an effort to create branding awareness and help the stream of branding novice understand and value of branding and the profession , I have been involved in facilitating sessions called “brandit” in South Africa and Nigeria since 2012, assisting companies , designers , printers , signage producers , interior experts and tutors understand their roles in the branding / Marketing Industry.

I also encourage people in the industry to write articles, post comments, contribute and help to educate the masses about what this profession really entails and the benefit of following the development process of a proper brand prospect.

In order to get more insight and understand branding and how to fully benefit from it , check Marcia Yudkin’s Benefit of Branding. and learn something.