The Hidden Costs of Cheap Branding
Branding a business can be an expensive proposition. Logos, websites and marketing materials often have hefty price tags.
It’s only normal to want to save some money on branding your business — but saving money on branding in the short-term just isn’t worth it in the long run.
There are plenty of ways to save money on branding your company. You can print your own business cards, use an automatic logo creator and generally find plenty of short-cuts.
But these options only save you money now. They cost you a lot more in the future…
Cookie-Cutter Branding
The biggest problem with short-cuts in branding is that you run the risk of not setting your business apart, or worse, making yourself look bad.
I remember when a client of mine announced that he had created his own logo, using an online ‘logo designer’ that allowed him to combine different images to get something he liked.
He pulled out his new business cards, and I had the hard job of telling tell him that I had seen the same exact logo on three other companies that year — all of whom had apparently used the same website to come up with their logos. They had all paid for this service — less than a graphic designer by far — but hadn’t differentiated their businesses at all. In fact, they had opened themselves up to some unfavorable comparison between the four of them, because of an identical logo.
The Cost of Cheap
There can be some financial consequences from taking short-cuts, as well. When you are ready to step up your branding a notch, odds are that you’ll have to start over from scratch. Perhaps the images you used for your logo aren’t high enough quality for the printer handling your new business cards or brochures. That means that you’ll have to go out and get a new, professional-quality logo, despite having already paid for that cheaper make-do logo. Just a couple of those sorts of replacements can wind up costing you quite a bit.
Poor branding, just like poor marketing, can lose you potential sales. A customer can decide that you seem unprofessional or otherwise unable to handle their needs and find another company to do business with — all because of a few short-cuts.
Consider your branding an investment: doing without is often better than taking short-cuts. Making the investment, though, means that you’ll have a logo and other branding materials that you can use for years and years. You’ll have a brand that will bring in customers and impress them with your professionalism. Over the long term you’ll make money, rather than spend it.
Reader Comments
I completely agree with this. A logo is such an important place to start your branding. A businesses color scheme, business cards, website and all other collateral should spring board from this icon. It is so important to get it right from the very beginning.
I was just writing about this in an ebook I’m writing about marketing! I’ve designed my own (ick) and then used eBay (have both good and bad stories…more bad than good, though) and have now found a graphic designer who rocks! My business logo looks awesome (beyondthepen.com). But my freelance logo (one of those graphic design horror stories that cost me more and more money) actually needs work STILL. (that’s the one on tinamcallister.com) So I plan on having my beloved graphic designer re-do that one. So…yes…I feel the pain of spending more money in the long run on proper branding.
@Amber—very glad you agree. As a designer, I can’t underestimate the importance of having a good logo to work from when creating the rest of a company’s collateral.
@Tina—Oh no :-( That sounds like exactly why people should go for quality in the first place. I’m very glad you’ve found a good designer though, they can be hard to come by if you’re on a tight budget.
I’ve experimented a bit in getting good branding for cheap. I found the online business card creators to be pretty useless, but had some luck with a sitepoint design contest to get a professional looking logo and business card design for a couple hundred bucks.
I’ve also worked with local, professional designers and found that talent is worth paying for - the results can be much better locally since the hiring and referral process for local talent is better than overseas, even if it does cost more, I think it pays for itself.
The cost of cheap anything is way more expensive in the long run. People these days still think that they can have their cake and eat it too (i.e. - a cheap website/logo/graphic design, etc) and make out like a bandit.
nd the online business card creators to be pretty useless, but had some luck with a site
I have seen many people looks to purchase cheap logos for their sites but they are not that much creatives.
Today my professor was teaching me regarding brand marketing and its type. I did not hear about cheap branding before. I will ask it by teacher. I am sure he will explain me well.
Cheap things are not always the worst things. You can still build a new house using old wood, as long as it is not broken, in poor condition. Give ‘cheap’ word a chance.
Regards,
Peter
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