UPDATE 3/2/2009:

 Found an interesting article on Advertising Age from a tweet by Dan Schawbel @danschawbel detailing a Personal Brand/Corporate Brand conflict with Ford Motors.   Interesting read. 

You can read part 1  of this series here:  Is Your Company’s Logo Design F*#$%ing Up Your Brand Image?

 Branding by definition implies a level of trust in your product or service, something that your clients and customers can depend on.  Apple for their innovation and service, Google for their quick and relevant searches.  A part of building a true brand aside from having a great product or service is the consistency of the brand’s image and actual brand message across multiple media platforms. 

But who is responsible for  your company’s brand message?

A few years ago a company’s  advertising and PR departments  were the gate keepers of their information and decided what and how the information was disseminated.  Now with the introduction of Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Styleapple,  your company’s blogs, etc,  you find that people are no longer interested  in what the company has to say directly, rather they seem to be gravitating to information being shared through employees and company executives themselves. 

I would personally rather follow Steve Jobs updates rather than  Apple, Inc. updates on Twitter (if I had to choose)  Given the gloomy recollection of corporate information and how difficult it was to understand exactly what their press releases were about, I think that  bad taste in our months  still lingers…  even if it’s now disguised as a Twitter bird dressed up in Facebook clothing.  Taking a phase from our most recent American political election  “You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig” 

Frankly, Social Networking has drastically changed the way companies will build their brand images going forward, where your most valuable assets  become even more valuable  (Employees  and corporate execs now takes center stage in how well a company’s brand is communicated to the masses)  The important thing is to make sure the message is consistent and clear when your company’s brand becomes a sum of its parts or rather, a sum of your employees personal brands. Take a look at  How to Lay The Brand Foundation For A Consulting Business  Blogger, Dan Schawbel  for a bit more insight of how to start a cohesive branding strategy when your business has to manage your employee’s personal brand.

How do you manage your company’s brand when your employees are actively involved in Social Media Networking?

Are You Looking To Hire A Designer? 

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We've been working hard, very hard these past few months on some major projects I believe will assist my designer colleagues who are looking to create some success in 2009 and beyond.

We are now in beta for our new website: www.styleapple.com which has been going very well, Thanks to all our beta testers for taking part in our bug hunting process. BTW, We are still accepting beta testers as we continue to develop the site. [Become A Beta Tester]

Branded Designers - The Agency,  Camille Wilkinson - Fashion Designer From New York City

We have also started Branded Designers - The Agency. I've always had a desire to help young designers grow their businesses. The Agency will do just that. Branded Designers - The Agency is a talent agency focused in the creative industry. We will represent a selected group of designers, providing the personalized service designers need when starting a new venture or simply finding new freelance projects.

We are currently accepting applications until we have reached our capacity. The Agency will only represent a few selected designers in order for us to effectively serve the designers we represent. All remaining applications will be placed on our waiting list.

To apply simply submit your profile on www.styleapple.com and send us an email title: Branded Designers Application, please include your name, title and location in the email.
I looking forward to working with you.

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When I decided to start this blog,  I was looking for a name that would represent my focus on exploring creative marketing techniques to promote and grow the careers and businesses of designers and design companies.  Most of what I've written thus far has been about  getting clients, maximizing website visitors, implementing social networking and utilizing SEO marketing techniques. The name Branded Designers was chosen to represent my commitment to finding the most effective marketing techniques that will contribute to defining and growing designers and young design companies brands.

 A brand as defined by Wikipedia is "a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols and sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality. The key objective is to create a relationship of trust."  In layman terms  "A brand is a person's gut feeling about your product or your service or your small business." Noted Brain B of Little Engine's Blog.

Now why is this important to a designer's livelihood and success going forward?  One reason is competition.  As we enter into this global economy where more and more designers are leaving the corporate environment and are starting their own businesses. It's becoming increasingly important to identify yourself as an expert that can deliver exceptional service that will command professional respect and client loyalty. That being said, a branded designer is a creative professional or design company who has successfully created a ‘feeling' or reputation in the eyes of the general public, clients and colleagues that is viewed favorably and has a strong positive impact on the social and financial bottom lines of their businesses.

In summary, the goal of the Branded Designers blog is to assist in the growth of the designer or design companies seeking to become branded; to research and discuss tools and internet marketing techniques, like inbound marketing through social networking and the blogosphere, like methods to improve website conversion rates, like evaluating methods and rules of  engagement of customers and clients.  My hope is to develop a resource that will truly help with the success and continued growth of the designer entrepreneur.

Here's a great slide show on branding and it's Importance going forward:

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