branding

The importance of good branding

So if you’ve been following me, you would have seen that I am deep in the throws of organising a wedding. It’s very painful and I am getting a little ‘stabby’ by it all. So many little things to organise. So many little damned things.

It appears that as soon as you attach the words ‘wedding’ to anything, the price gets tripled. I personally don’t see this as a problem because let’s face it, brides are hard to deal with and there is a lot of pressure for this one day to be perfect. So there is a need to offer premium services for this special day.

First impressions count

What I do get a little bit icky about is seeing a provider charging premium prices with a brand that represents a two dollar store.

When first looking for wedding dresses I did a lot of preliminary research online, the majority of local dress designer sites I looked at gave the impression they would be well within my budget. 10 year old websites that were broken and full of fuzzy photos. I even stumbled across some Chinese websites that had extremely cheap dresses that were leaps and bounds better than the local designers. My expectations were set.

Before heading out to try on some dresses, my partner and I discussed the budget. He gave me a figure what I thought was a stupid amount, I laughed “Who spends that much on a dress..hahaha…crazy people that’s who!?“. This was pretty much based on the first impression I got when first looking for dresses online.

Your brand isn’t just about design

It is incredibly important to note that your overall brand isn’t just about your logo or the photos on your website, it’s about your message. It’s the words you use. The people who represent you. Your customer service. It’s everything that your potential clients see from the outside looking in.

Let’s just say I got a pretty rude shock on my first outing to try on wedding dresses, I am sure I gave the snooty sales lady the stink eye when she revealed the price. My immediate thought was, yes it’s a beautiful dress, but I am pretty sure there isn’t $5000 worth of material and workmanship that has gone into that dress, so what exactly am I paying for? It’s sure as hell not their online presence, which I could have forgiven. The design isn’t much different to the one I tried on in the other store. They didn’t give me a glass of champagne when I arrived like they do in the movies? Oh and by the attitude thrown my way from the sales person, it’s likely they’re not paying her a whole lot either?

So what is it I am paying for?

I walked away with no dress, a bitter taste in my mouth and a stronger desire to rid the world of horrible websites.

Don’t misrepresent yourself

If you want to charge premium prices you need to reflect that with your brand – in ways of your customer service, your marketing even down to the wording on your website and from your emails.

If you want to be known as affordable then don’t turn people off with luxe positioning statements and over the top fancy offices.

Set expectations and keep it real.

Have you had a brand experience that didn’t meet your expectations?

3 thoughts on “The importance of good branding”

  1. This post really made me think, when someone pays you to design a site it’s not only the site that they are paying for they are also paying for the service they get with it. Great thing to consider when pricing.

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