Are you looking to take on a professional brand agency to help you rebrand your business? If so, there are a number of things to look out for before signing on the dotted line. You should do your research well before choosing an agency to work with as they are not all the same.

Here are some key areas to consider before you start working with a brand agency:

Are they strategic?

If the first conversation with the agency revolves around the type of logo you are looking for and what fonts and colours you like, you should have alarm bells ringing. Professional branding is about far more than just designing a new logo. You need your agency to be thinking strategically with you; after all, rebranding should be carried out for a business purpose. At Frost Creative we won’t consider taking on a rebranding project without a solid business strategy behind it.

Why are you rebranding?

This should be the first question a branding agency of any merit asks you. It’s vital that your rebrand is for a valid business purpose and not just for the sake of it. A professional rebrand with a strategic approach behind it can really enhance a business and a great agency will work with you to achieve your business goals behind the rebrand.

What is your brand strategy?

This is the second question the agency should be asking you about. Once they know the reason for your rebrand, whether it’s a business merger, or chance to break into a new market, they need to talk strategically with you. A good brand agency should be talking to you about your business goals and strategy, not colours and fonts.

Do they have a research approach?

The brand agency should be talking about research into your business and the market place as a starting point, perhaps with a questionnaire or focus group, to really understand where you are coming from as a company. This research phase can be costly and you can save money by providing a lot of the answers yourself up front, but they should be looking into your business culture, how you secure new business, industry trends and predictions and your competitors as a bare minimum.

Are they offering a brand workshop?

Brand workshops are the way most reputable brand agencies will work with you initially to extract your ideas about branding for your business, what kind of brands you admire and respect and the kind of qualities your branding needs to project for your business. Again, if they launch straight into colours, fonts and design ideas, step away quickly.

Rebranding should always be a strategic business decision, with a lot of thought behind it, long before any design ideas are discussed. There need to be clear business aims and objectives behind the desire to rebrand.

When looking for a brand agency you should expect them to be professional and strategic in their approach and they should always be far more interested in helping you achieve your business goals, than what colour you want the new logo to be.

Here at Frost Creative we only work with companies on rebranding projects if they are grounded at a strategic business level. Starting with design is always the wrong way round so if you’d like to talk to us about how creating a new brand which actually works for your business, please do get in touch.