The Branding Experts – Graphic Design Has Become a Commodity

Graphic design as a profession has come under attack over the last several years. More and more, clients are pushing back on price. The business community has lost the respect for graphic designers that they had a few decades ago. They have this wild perception that graphic design is essentially pretty pictures that almost anyone with competence in Photoshop can achieve. Have you ever been asked this question, “Wow, I love that design, what program did you use?”? Many clients have the perception that the program—not the talent behind the program—created their marketing. And if they perceive the value to be in the program, then how can you possibly be paid what you’re worth? Look around your market—isn’t it becoming an increasing problem that anyone proficient in Photoshop is calling themselves a “graphic designer”?

Free and low cost graphic design is everywhere

What’s worse, anyone in the world, thanks to this perception, can take a bite out of your apple. In web design, how many server solutions give away FREE design so they can sign businesses up to recurring hosting income, i.e.: Webydo? Logo services for pocket money i.e.: Fiverr? FREE graphic design for printing i.e.: VistaPrint. More and more the marketplace is making graphic design a commodity. You are competing on price. Not long ago, a friend who owned a serious design house with offices in three states had the rug pulled out from under them when all of their largest client’s design business was handed off to their printer on price. That was a loss that shut down their company. Why? Because most clients don’t see the value in design—it’s merely a commodity.

There’s a one-word solution that could help bring back the respect to your graphic design firm. That word is STRATEGY.

Strategy makes the difference

You want to be seen as a strategy-based company. The best way for a graphic design firm to achieve this is to offer branding on a strategic level. Many (and I mean many) of your peers see a brand as a logo and its accompanying marketing materials. From our perspective, this is just wrong-headed. To us, a brand is a company’s reputation, the perception on the street. A brand is the promise to customers that puts the company top-of-mind with them, the go-to-company.

Companies hire the services of consultants all the time to help them strategize through barriers that are keeping them from their goals. If you utilize a branding process that properly addresses how to deliver branding to your clients, you will be able to charge larger fees and get little to no push-back on price. Business owners respect consultants and recognize that they’re expensive.

You are uniquely positioned to deliver strategic branding

Because branding is so client-centric, there is no way to facilitate it without an analytic creative mind. That’s where you come in. You are an expert in this area whether you realize it or not. In order to position a company in such a way that the position absolutely resonates with THEIR customers takes the combined talents and insights only graphic designers possess. No Photoshop here folks. As a matter of fact, our proven branding process involves no design whatsoever. BUT, what it does do is deliver a high value and high fee to your company, and is a catalyst to additional graphic design work when it’s complete and the client is ready to launch. How great would that be?

The entire branding process delivers a branding strategy that the client can bank on and capture additional market share. The process nicely positions YOU as a strategic firm. It differentiates you from competing design firms. It effectively changes the conversation—and that is key to bringing the mojo back into 21st century design firms.

Get back in control

Are you up to the challenge? Do you want to be under-valued as a commodity or hyper-valued as a strategic graphic design firm? It’s nice to put some of the control back into your own hands.

If you’d like to find out more how we are helping design companies like yours transition to becoming strategic graphic design companies and certified branding experts, check out our Brand Academy Certification Workshop. We’re holding our third workshop this coming April, 2015, in Myrtle Beach SC.