3 Things to Consider When Hiring a Branding Expert

Ready to hire a branding expert? Not sure if you need one? Before diving in, let's ensure you're heading down the right path.

If you're not sure what a brand is, start here. If you are familiar with it but need the next step in activating yours, consider who you're hiring based on your core business goals. 

THINK OF BRANDING AS BUILDING YOUR CUSTOM DREAM HOME

A Brand Strategist and a Brand Designer own two distinct roles within the realm of branding, each with its own focus and responsibilities

The simplest way to explain the difference is through a custom home build. Your Brand Strategist is the architect or builder. He or she would meet with you, understand your vision, design the blueprints, potentially help you select your plot of land, understand the nuances of your property, build the house, manage the zoning, and ensure it is structurally sound.

A Brand Designer is like an interior designer and a landscape designer in one--someone who makes all the things that make a home cozy and welcoming come to life: the colors and details--from countertops to couches. They will often work in tandem with the architect/builder and the client or pick up the process after the builder is complete.

In short, without the overall vision for the home or the house itself, what’s there to jazz up?

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BRAND STRATEGIST AND A BRAND DESIGNER

Role Focus

• Brand Strategist: Develops the overall strategy and positioning of a brand. They work to define your brand's identity, target audience, messaging, and competitive differentiation. Brand strategists conduct market research, analyze consumer behavior, and develop plans to enhance brand perception and market share. They have a history in marketing and branding with a proven track record of measurable success for previous clients.

• Brand Designer: Focuses on the visual representation of the brand. They translate the brand's strategy into visual elements such as logos, typography, color schemes, and imagery. Brand designers ensure that all visual assets are cohesive, memorable and effectively communicate the brand's identity and values.

Responsibilities:

• Brand Strategist: They're responsible for conducting market research, defining brand positioning, developing brand architecture, creating brand guidelines, crafting messaging frameworks, and overseeing brand communication strategies. In short, this is a core marketing function for your business.

• Brand Designer: Responsibilities include creating visual identities, designing logos, developing brand collateral (such as business cards, letterheads, and packaging), designing digital assets (such as website layouts and social media graphics), and ensuring brand consistency across all touchpoints. In short, this is a core design function for your business.
  

Skills and Expertise:

• Brand Strategist: Requires skills in market research, consumer behavior analysis, strategic thinking, brand management, storytelling, and communication. Strong analytical skills and business acumen are also essential for developing effective brand strategies.

• Brand Designer: Requires skills in graphic design, typography, color theory, visual communication, branding principles, Adobe Creative Suite (or similar design software), and often needs to understand how web design and user experience (UX) design for digital branding projects drive conversions.

Collaboration:

• Brand Strategist: This person collaborates closely with key decision-makers within a company, such as marketing teams, executives, product managers, and sometimes external agencies, to ensure that the brand strategy aligns with business objectives and resonates with the target audience.

• Brand Designer: This person collaborates closely with brand strategists, marketing teams, and clients to understand the brand's vision and values and translate them into visually compelling designs. They often work with copywriters, illustrators, photographers, and other creative professionals to create cohesive brand assets.

While there may be some overlap in skills and responsibilities between brand strategists and designers, their primary focus and expertise differ. Strategists focus on conceptualizing and managing brand strategy, while designers focus on the visual execution of that strategy.

As content creation becomes more automated with AI, consider hiring a brand strategist specializing in brand storytelling to improve your marketing.