When does branding make sense?

Imagine a brand like a human body. The logo forms the heart, so to speak. But it's the branding that brings the entire body together and ensures the perfect interplay of all components. The sum of all the individual parts creates a unique person – or rather, a unique brand.

Without branding, there's no brand. But at what point in the entrepreneurial journey does branding actually make sense? We'll answer this question now.

From start-up to adult business

The classic example is a company that's only been on the market for a short time: You're a start-up with a product that's well-received, sells well, and brings in money. During this phase, you reach the point where you realize, "Okay, now it's time to professionalize our business." You begin to professionalize. You develop; the "workshop in the garage" becomes an office, and the homemade logo is transformed into a mature brand.

Address a more affluent target group

Do you want to attract a target audience for your product that is willing to spend more money on higher quality? Then first-class branding plays a crucial role. The transformation from a nice-to-have product to a must-have product must be made visible by new branding. Otherwise, no one will notice.

Serving all touchpoints – cross-media branding

Branding must work across all touchpoints – whether it's a small app icon on an Apple Watch or a large poster in a football stadium. If a brand doesn't work at all on some touchpoints and you repeatedly encounter limitations, it's time to revise the branding and make it accessible across all touchpoints.

Out of comparability

If a brand doesn't attract enough attention and gets lost in the sea of competitors, it's often due to a weak visual identity. Rebranding makes sense in this case to make the brand less comparable. The brand needs to stand out from the crowd; it needs to gain visibility.

Employer branding in times of skilled labor shortages

Skilled labor shortages and the search for employees are making life difficult for many companies. Strong employer branding can make the recruitment process much easier. The branding we developed for Spedination a few years ago, for example, has consistently attracted applicants who were drawn to the company solely because of its hip branding and applied there for a job. A new branding approach can therefore be a decisive factor in the recruitment process.

A new branding for an image correction

Another reason for branding or rebranding can be an image problem. Perhaps there's a scandal in the industry that you want to fundamentally distance yourself from and also want to show externally: We're breaking new ground.

Or it doesn't necessarily require a scandal: think of McDonald's. The fast-food giant was known for its yellow M on a red background. They wanted to get rid of the negative fast-food image and show that they were committed to healthy alternatives (at least in German speaking countries). So, you now see the yellow M more often on a dark green background.