Close your eyes and think about a brand you admire. Try to identify what it is exactly that you like about them: their name, their logo, their tagline, their color palette, or anything else that comes to mind. It’s probably no coincidence that this brand caught your eye. All of these details are a result of extensive research and creative iteration, and are handpicked in order to capture audience attention and communicate the value of the brand’s product or service. And odds are, this wasn’t the work of any one individual employee, or even an entire internal team — almost every major brand today partners with a branding agency to create and maintain their visual identity.
If you're looking for support on a large creative project, you might be overwhelmed by all of the different factors to consider and options available. We know how complex it can be, so we’ve put together a brief guide to help you make the most informed decision possible. Below, we’ll cover everything from what a branding agency does to who they work with to where you can find them — read on to learn more.
What does a branding agency do?
A branding agency is a business that assists clients in establishing, refreshing/renewing, and maintaining their brand strategies and visual identities. They help clients discover who they are at the moment, what the perception of their organization is (both internally and externally), and who they want to be in the future. Once this is established, branding agencies help organizations express themselves through visuals, messaging, and strategy.
The projects brand agencies take on might include creation of brand identities, brand refreshes, rebrands, and brand strategies. They also create all of the deliverables that go along with that, such as brand books, messaging guides, and marketing templates for emails, blogs, social media, white papers, presentations, company swag, etc. Sometimes, they may even offer web design services. In short, branding agencies touch anywhere your brand can be seen or expressed.
Who needs a branding agency?
Hiring a branding agency is especially important for companies that rely on catching the eyes of their audience, such as retail or consumer products. It’s critical that these brands stand out when they’re competing against so many others in a physical store or ecommerce setting. Branding has also become very important in recent years to tech companies, who typically want to be seen as innovative and hip in order to attract the right customers and employees. But really, any organization in need of a brand identity can benefit from working with a branding agency.
Branding agencies are perfect for organizations that have just started. If you create a strong visual identity from the get-go, you’ll likely have an easier time building up a customer base. Not to mention, changing your branding after you've already established yourself can lead to you confusing, or even losing, your customers. Another sign you might need a branding agency is if you find yourselves having to constantly scrape together visual assets. When visuals are created on an ad hoc basis — whether it’s a newsletter template, ad, logo for a partner’s page, etc. — you usually can’t maintain quality and consistency, even if you do have an in-house designer.
People who don’t work in design sometimes think that hiring a single designer to create or touch up their brand identity will be enough, but with projects as large as those it’s usually better to go with an agency. Agencies have the team members and capacity to do the work well at a much quicker pace than any one individual could. However, in-house designers will play a crucial role in maintaining your visual brand after the fact.
How much does a branding agency cost?
This is a tough question to answer since the cost can vary significantly from agency to agency. But when I was researching prices before starting my own studio, I found that a rate of $400 per hour was pretty typical for the bigger agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Smaller agencies will usually charge about half of that, or sometimes less, but if a branding agency is charging less than $100 per hour that’s probably not a good sign. That’s closer to a freelance rate, so if they’re able to charge that, you’ll likely be working with just a single person — which, as we mentioned above, is rarely enough to tackle a branding project. The old adage that you get what you pay for is very much applicable to the design industry, so be skeptical if the price seems too good to be true. It’s better to pay more for a brand identity you love than save money on one that you don’t.
Finding Branding Agencies
After deciding that you want to hire a branding agency, it’s time for the hard part: finding one. Companies go about finding agencies in a lot of different ways. A lot of people simply do a Google search for “branding agencies in [name of your city],” or turn to a site like clutch.co to find agency listings. This can be helpful for giving you an idea of what’s out there, but it’s vague enough that the results may not be super applicable to you. You can also look at agencies based on word-of-mouth referrals from people in your network, but keep in mind that this will give you a pretty limited view of the landscape.
A better way to find agencies is to research the design industry. Look into brands and work that you admire, and find out who’s behind them. It’s also worth identifying some thought leaders through events, blogs, Instagram, etc. who are leading conversations on design and then reaching out to them to inquire about their work. Once you’ve identified a few different agencies that might be a good fit, it’s time to take a deeper dive.
Evaluating Branding Agencies
The first component of evaluating a branding agency should be checking out their work. Personally, I recommend focusing your search on agencies whose work is along the lines of what you’re going for, but still pushes the boundaries a little bit in order to differentiate. When looking at an agency’s portfolio, ask yourself: Does it suit your taste? Have they worked with clients within your industry and niche? Are they versatile?
Once you’ve come up with a shortlist of final candidates, go ahead and reach out to set up a call. Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want in terms of process, rates, timeline, and other important factors, though, so you can compare that to what the agency is able to offer. You can start the conversation by simply asking how they work. When I’m chatting with a potential client, I explain how we begin by having a conversation about their vision, do an audit of their brand, hold a brand workshop where we send some examples of different styles to understand their aesthetics, then iterate, revise, and finalize. Asking about the concepts and processes behind specific examples can be especially helpful in understanding their work style.
If any of the agencies you talk to are hesitant to provide transparency into their process, or their workflow doesn’t match up with what you’re looking for — maybe weekly status update meetings are really important to you, for example, but the agency holds off on scheduling calls until they have a final draft to show — that’s a red flag that you may not work well together. Watch out for agencies that only tell you what you want to hear, though. If they say yes to everything, they’re probably promising more than they can deliver.
One “green flag,” on the other hand, is if the agency is actively involved in the creative community. When agencies do things like participating in design festivals or attending creative events, they’re able to stay up-to-date with the latest design trends and gather inspiration for their own projects.
Even more important, though, is the agency’s communication style. Good agencies will communicate fluidly and be happy to answer your questions, not just tolerate them or even dismiss them. How an agency treats you before you’ve signed a contract foreshadows how they’ll treat you afterwards in a major way. Another good sign is if the information you’ve given them is reflected in their answers — the partners you work with should always listen to you, and personalized responses demonstrate that much more so than generic ones. Evaluating communication can be tricky — you can tell pretty quickly whether or not an agency has a strong portfolio, but it’s not always apparent how well they communicate with clients. That being said, it’s really important to get a sense of this before you commit to working with them.
Next Steps
Hopefully, after walking through everything we listed above, you’ll have a clear idea of which agency you want to work with — but if not, you might need to look into some other branding agencies that could be a good fit for you. Finding the right one often takes time and effort, but in the end, you’ll almost certainly find that it paid off.
Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.