Branding Survival Guide Chapter 1: What Kind of Agency Do I Need?
July 19, 2023
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Understanding the Distinctions Between Different Agencies
In today’s competitive business landscape, building a strong brand is crucial to help stand out and make a lasting impression on your target audience. However, creating a consistent brand that truly reflects your company’s values and resonates with your customers is no easy task. That’s where a brand a brand agency comes in.
Unfortunately, marketing industry speak can get confusing, and it becomes difficult to understand who does what. It’s easy to confuse branding and advertising agencies. After all, both types of companies are in the business of promoting businesses and their products or services. However, there are often key differences between branding and advertising agencies that can make a big difference in achieving your goals. Here are our thoughts to try to bring some clarity to the subject.
A brand agency is a creative company that specializes in developing and promoting brands. A brand is more than just a logo or a catchy tagline. It’s the unique identity that sets your organization apart from others in the market. It’s like the soul of your business and how it’s expressed through its personality. A brand agency helps you define your brand identity and communicate it effectively to your target audience.
Traditionally, branding agencies are focused on creating and managing a company’s brand identity. They work to develop the visual and verbal language that represents the brand, including logos, colours, typography, taglines, and messaging. We’re talking about long-term stuff. Branding agencies work to create a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints, from website design to packaging to social media content. Their ultimate goal is to create a brand that is memorable, unique, and resonates with the target audience.
On the other hand, advertising agencies are mainly (although not exclusively, to be fair) focused on creating and executing campaigns that drive awareness and sales for a product or service. This is usually shorter-term stuff. Advertising agencies may use a variety of channels, such as TV, radio, print, digital, and social media, to deliver their message.
Some modern brand agencies such as Jacknife work with organizations in both ways through the full spectrum that we like to call “Think. Make. Talk.” We work on defining your brand strategy (Think), developing its identity and brand assets (Make), and then connecting it to your target audience through marketing activities such as advertising (Talk). Many of our clients prefer a nimble partner to provide guidance through the whole journey with a holistic view of their brand’s entire ecosystem versus working with separate agencies.
