Who's the "General Contractor" for your Brand Building?

June 10, 2009 | Branding, Startups

If you’re building a house or doing a renovation, you understand the need for a general contractor. This is the key person who pulls a team together and keeps the project on track. The general contractor for your kitchen re-do may be your carpenter who does the cabinetry work himself and pulls in a tile specialist, a plumber and an electrician. This pivotal leader generally decides what sub-contractors to use and makes sure the workflow makes sense. You don’t need the painters showing up the first week on a job, and you do need to make sure the sink is going fit into the countertop.

When you’re building your own identity or brand, who is managing all the pieces?

If you’re a business owner, you may be the one who has to bridge the gap from one vendor to the next. You have to decide where to spend the money, what subcontractors to use, and how to schedule the project(s). It’s up to you to ensure consistency.

Here are a few tips:

• Have different designers and developers communicate with one another. Maybe you worked with one graphic designer for your logo design, and another for your web site. Ask them to cooperate, share standards and even share files if appropriate.
• Ask for information about completed work. You should know what your corporate colors are as PMS colors, CMYK and in RGB format.
• Get copies of key files. You should have your logo artwork and other key images in formats that you can use.

The benefits of choosing one experienced professional

Not ready to do it yourself? That makes sense. Just like you may not want to manage all the subcontractors on your building project, you can prevent headaches and potentially save money by hiring a professional to manage your brand and identity.

A professional can build the best strategy for completing different projects—which should be completed first, and why. An experienced designer will notice the many details that make a cohesive look, and can ensure consistency. Using one professional, who then builds a team of specialists, will allow you to get expertise in many areas, while having a dedicated team leader and one point of contact.