A branding company or an advertising agency?
February 28, 2012
In the past couple of years, we’ve met several clients who have been romanced by branding companies. And not surprisingly, they end up a little confused. After all, if a branding company does branding, then what does an advertising agency do? Do you go to a branding company for branding, and then take your brand to an ad agency? Does an ad agency do branding? And if so, then why are there branding companies?
Try thinking of an advertising agency as a car. A branding company will provide the general design of the car. Ideally, it will have character, and it will hopefully make the car unique. But it will only take you so far. After all, the car needs not only the design, but the chassis, wheels, engine and the driver to go the distance. In the advertising world, an ad agency gives you all the parts you need to get where you want to go.
Since the beginning of time, ad agencies have been the brand builders. They did the research, they created the brand positioning, they launched the brand, and the built it over time. And they still do today. Most importantly, ad agencies take responsibility for the success of your brand. After all, when the media runs and the phone rings (or doesn’t), who is there to call? A branding company? No, they received their check long ago, and are onto another client. You’ll call your advertising agency. Your agency is with you for the long haul. It’s in their best interest for your brand to succeed.
So why do branding companies exist? We’ll leave it to the owners of branding companies to answer that (but it likely has more to do with generating their own revenue than generating revenue for their clients). But as an ad agency, we can say that we not only build unique brands, but we generate results. We love being there when our clients call to say the phone is ringing off the hook. Because we helped make it happen, from the very beginning. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
