Are you interviewing firms to help you with re-branding? What should you look for? What questions should you ask?

Look for a methodology. Branding is a process. The process should evaluate three basic areas – the state of your brand, the competitive environment and your target audience.

Ask what, exactly, you’ll get. At the end of the process, what are you left with? The results should be practical, useful, and clear. You may end up with a logo and some fancy-sounding language. But if you don’t get a specific branding blueprint or useful branding guide along with it, the work may end up on a shelf—not in the hearts and minds of your customers.

Ask how they define “brand.” It’s a basic question, yes. But their definition of brand will inform the quality of the brand you end up with. At Zoyo, we branding is a creative activity, yes, but more importantly, it’s a strategic process. A brand should be useful, practical, and reflective of your products’ unique attributes. It is set of clear distinct characteristics that can be perceived in all of your communications. In that way, a brand makes all your communications work harder because they’re part of a bigger entity. A strong brand also acts as a guideline to help you make decisions, not just about marketing, but also about sales, audiences, and even future goals.