The top 10 most important criteria for evaluating a branding agency, Toud
A branding agency’s role is to facilitate clear answers to key questions that the client must address: Who are we? What do we do? How do we do it? Why do we exist? What makes us different? What is our personality as a group? What are the values we believe in? What is our common ambition?
The agency cannot and should not provide these answers itself; rather, it must gather them. This is done through workshops and working sessions. Simple discussions are not enough—it is crucial for the team to engage in shared exercises.
The team members are carefully selected and form the working group responsible for shaping the organization’s (or business’s) future.
Branding agency professionals must be good listeners, know how to ask the right questions, be curious, identify valuable insights from all gathered information, have experience in facilitating workshops, and, most importantly, be patient.
A branding agency typically has dedicated teams responsible for brand strategy and visual identity.
A branding agency has distinct teams that handle brand strategy and visual identity. It is highly beneficial for both teams to exist within the same agency, as the collaboration between them will be easier. The team responsible for visual identity (logo, style guide, other visual elements) will work based on a creative brief, but also in close collaboration with a person from the brand strategy team.
It is important that, when looking for a branding agency for your organization’s project, you keep in mind certain criteria to guide you. Here are 10 criteria you can follow, and why it is essential to consider them carefully in order to make an informed decision that will set your business on the path to success:
- Experience and portfolio
Check the agency’s portfolio to see their previous work and clients. Make sure they have experience in the industry in which you operate and can provide relevant examples for your brand. - The agency has a process, it has a method
Choose an agency that has a well-defined process for developing the brand strategy and creating the visual identity. Without a process, it’s nearly impossible to achieve a good result. - The first meeting
Arrange a meeting for acquaintance and validation. In this meeting, the agency’s desire to create something valuable should be stronger than their desire to sell. You can observe this through the questions they ask and their interest in getting to know your business from the start. Discuss the projects they have worked on that impressed you, and find out what their recipe for success was. - The agency allocates a team with the right people
Ask about the people who will be involved in the project, learn about their experience and qualifications, and ideally, check what they have worked on before. - Creativity versus Facilitation, Listening
People involved in strategy must listen, analyze, and facilitate working meetings. Creativity matters less here; more important are empathy and the ability to make the working group think freely and express ideas. Creativity becomes essential in the graphic conceptualization area, but even here, understanding the context and the ability to create something relevant to the business is important. These aspects can only be evaluated throughout the collaboration, not at the beginning. - Messages and stories
After organizing workshops and collecting relevant information from the working group, it is essential to clearly define the brand’s identity. The agency must be able to correctly and clearly formulate relevant information about the organization. Even from the work stages, they should be able to suggest elements related to narrative, symbols, and deeper meanings. These must be discussed, developed, validated, and included in the brand strategy document. To evaluate this aspect, analyze the agency’s work on other projects and make sure the team has knowledge of concepts like brand personality and brand story and knows how to shape them. - Collaboration and communication
You must feel comfortable working with the assigned team and have a good relationship with them. Additionally, the agency team should be collaborative and communicate effectively with you throughout the process. - Reputation and reviews
Choose an agency with a good reputation in the industry. Read reviews from previous clients to understand their level of satisfaction. If possible, reach out to one of the agency’s clients to get direct feedback. This action can save you considerable time and resources. - Budget and cost
Analyze the agency’s offer and ensure it fits within your budget. It is essential to have a clear understanding of the services included in the cost and those that may generate additional costs. - Deadlines and measurable results
Set clear deadlines for the project’s delivery. Make sure the agency has a proven history of meeting deadlines. In branding, the impact is visible in the long term, but you can evaluate the quality of the work along the way. You can request intermediate deliverables for each stage. Also, people in the agency must write and speak correctly. Lack of depth, clichés, and poor expression are risks that must be avoided in the branding process.
Branding agency vs digital agency
A digital agency and a branding agency are two distinct types of companies that offer different services to their clients. A branding agency focuses on creating and developing a company’s brand identity, including visual identity such as the logo and overall visual style. They work with organizations to create a unique and memorable brand identity that differentiates them from competitors and resonates with their target audience.
On the other hand, a digital agency specializes in developing and executing digital marketing strategies. They help businesses establish and grow their online presence through services such as website design and development, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and other digital advertising tactics.
Although there are some overlaps between the services offered by branding and digital agencies, the main difference lies in their focus. Branding agencies are more concerned with creating a strong and coherent brand identity, while digital agencies prioritize the use of digital channels to reach and engage with customers.
In conclusion, branding agencies tend to focus on developing a company’s brand identity, while digital agencies focus on digital marketing tactics to promote and, implicitly, grow the brand.
What kinds of professionals typically work in a branding agency
A branding agency hires a variety of professionals with different skills and experiences to help create, develop, and implement branding strategies for clients. Some of the common roles found in a branding agency include:
Brand Strategist – responsible for developing the overall branding strategy, conducting extensive research, but especially facilitating working meetings with the working group formed by key people from the organization.
Creative Director – responsible for leading the creative team and ensuring that everything is aligned with the brand identity.
Graphic Designer – responsible for creating visual elements that represent the brand and resonate with the target audience.
Copywriter – responsible for creating the brand’s messages and tone of voice, and writing content for various marketing materials.
Project Manager – responsible for managing deadlines, budgets, and ensuring that all deliverables are ready on time and within the budget.
Web Developer – responsible for creating and maintaining the brand’s website and other digital properties.
These are just a few examples of the types of people who might work in a branding agency. The specific roles and responsibilities depend on the size of the agency and the types of clients it works with.
A branding agency’s role is to facilitate clear answers to key questions that the client must address: Who are we? What do we do? How do we do it? Why do we exist? What makes us different? What is our personality as a group? What are the values we believe in? What is our common ambition?
The agency cannot and should not provide these answers itself; rather, it must gather them. This is done through workshops and working sessions. Simple discussions are not enough—it is crucial for the team to engage in shared exercises.
The team members are carefully selected and form the working group responsible for shaping the organization’s (or business’s) future.
Branding agency professionals must be good listeners, know how to ask the right questions, be curious, identify valuable insights from all gathered information, have experience in facilitating workshops, and, most importantly, be patient.
A branding agency typically has dedicated teams responsible for brand strategy and visual identity.