Creating a Company Brand
MMc501In order to find out what it takes to create a company Brand, understand the process better and gain inspiration, I will have to do a lot of research.
Useful links I used to Conduct my research:
Graphic designer sector guides from Santander;http://www.santanderbusinessguides.co.uk/bizguides/full/graphic/parkes-market_research.asp
Web developer sector guides from Santander:
http://www.santanderbusinessguides.co.uk/bizguides/full/webdev/index.asp
HOW MUCH!? THE COST OF PROFESSIONAL DESIGN:
Economic value;
Guide to setting up a design business;
This article is great, it gives an encouraging insight to what you need to do to start your own design company.
Local competitors : Nottingham
There are over 80 design companies in Nottingham, which means there is a lot of competition. It also means there is a decent market here.
As large companies tend to have branches within the company dedicated to design, most of the business for design in Nottingham comes from small/independent businesses.
Located on derby road is one of my favorite companies that ive heard about in nottingham.
Partly because of its relaxed attitude towards business they seem to be gaining a reputation of one of the top places to work in Nottingham. When it first started out spitfire in its first year, they doubled expected turnover and doubled the number of staff. they made an excess of over £280,000..Spitfire develops brands and campaigns for local small businesses.
Market Information
The design/creative industry in the uk makes £33 Billion a year. Despite the recession, the Design industry has still grown by 29 percent, (2005-2010)
"Design was the fastest growing employer among the creative industries in 2013. The number of jobs in the product, graphic and fashion design sector increased by 17.7 per cent from 151,000 to 177,000 between 2011 and 2013. This area has seen a particularly fast rise in the number of female employees."
"Design is linked to profit: For every £1 invested in design, businesses can expect over £4 increase in net operating profit"
"Despite impressive exports, the total value of UK design exports ranks fifth behind Hong Kong, Switzerland, Italy and Germany"
"Between 2011 and 2013, within the Creative Industries, there were increases in jobs of greater than 20 per cent in: the East of England (27.1%); the East Midlands (25.0%); the West Midlands (20.6%); and Yorkshire and The Humber (20.1%)"
USP / Sales strategy ;
Every Design company has to have a unique selling point, take SPITFIRE STUDIO for example their selling point is they dont take this to seriously, they arent formal but they produce a high standard of work and this attracts business.
For JVDesign I am going to mimic these qualities, keeping the working environment relaxed and yet maintaining a high quality of work. Appearance is also key as some work will come from references it is vital to maintain great relationships with clients. These factors will ad value to the company and make it more appealing to the target audience.
traditional vs dynamic Branding
Infromation found at;
http://www.otherfocus.com/dynamic-branding-the-same-but-different/
What Is Dynamic Branding?
Dynamic Branding is an identity that can be changed, but has a basic element that always remains the same. Whether it is the word-mark, text/word itself, colors, or shape; the brand is still recognizable.
Dynamic Branding is a way of giving your identity a fresh look without completely changing the identity. You are able to connect to everything; you can change the logo in relation to the seasons, change it for a special occasion, etc. Dynamic Branding has proved to be successful a number of times, but it does not work well for every company.
Company structure
In order to create the ideal company structure for my company I will have to look at different company structures and evaluate which is more efficient and cost effective for a new company.
Article Information found;
"There are several creative companies that have announced that they employ a flat hierarchy — that there are no bosses. It’s an appealing option, but one that is particularly difficult to implement. You need an entire team of people who can handle working under their own direction and if everyone could do that, they’d all be freelancers"
"Communication options: The different communication requirements of an agency depend on whether everyone is in the same office, in the same time zone; or merely on the same planet. How easy communication is for two people in your organization will impose requirements on whether you can have a soft hierarchy, where everyone can get in touch with everyone else, or if communication has to go through channels.
Accountability: As the person in charge, you may have to make someone else accountable for a bad decision. It’s tough to do, but putting out clear expectations in terms of responsibility and authority often reduces such issues. You may not need to specify the consequences of a screw-up specifically, but you do need to reduce the chances that everyone in the agency will suffer from such a situation.
Client access: If you want to be the sole face of your company, then you have to make all communications with the client go through you. That can be a tough proposition. The alternative is laying out when and where your team can contact clients. In turn, that can mean that you need to train your team to communicate with clients the way you would.
Evolution: Your structural requirements when there’s just you and a single other person working for your agency will be very different from what they are when there are five team members, or ten, or twenty. You need to make sure that there’s a mechanism for evolution built into your structure."
.Spinning Clock.
a Local design company that I found based in Nottingham;
This is a standard Hierarchical structure for a design company. this hierarchy makes it easier to hold people accountable for mistakes made. this structure is also on average the most productive structure as everyone has someone they have to answer too. helping motivate the staff to be more efficient.
"Advantages of Hierarchical Structure
Employees recognize defined levels of leadership within the organization; authority and levels of responsibility are obvious. • Opportunities for promotion motivate employees to perform well. • Hierarchical structures promote developing employees as specialists. Employees may narrow their field of focus and become experts in specific functions. • Employees become loyal to their departments and look out for the best interest of their area.
Disadvantages of Hierarchical Structure
Communication across different departments tends to be less effective than in flat organizations. • Rivalry between departments may inflame as each department makes decisions that benefit its own interests rather than the organization's as a whole. • Increased bureaucracy often hinders an organization’s speed to change. Increased time may be required to respond to clients. • Salaries for multiple layers of management increase an organization’s costs."
"Flat Structure
A flat organization refers to an organization structure with few or no levels of management between management and staff level employees. The flat organization supervises employees less while promoting their increased involvement in the decision-making process.
Advantages of Flat Structure
It elevates the employees’ level of responsibility in the organization. • It removes excess layers of managements improves the coordination and speed of communication between employees. • Fewer levels of management encourage an easier decision-making process among employees. • Eliminating the salaries of middle management reduces an organization’s budget costs.
Disadvantages of Flat Structure
Employees often lack a specific boss to report to, which creates confusion and possible power struggles among management. • Flat organizations tend to produce a lot of generalists but no specialists. The specific job function of employees may not be clear. • Flat structure may limit long-term growth of an Organization; management may decide against new opportunities in an effort to maintain the structure. • Larger organizations struggle to adapt the flat structure, unless the company divides into smaller, more manageable units."
Costing strategies
Article found at; http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/how-to-price-your-work-about-different-price-strategies-that-you-can-use/
"THE COST PRICE
Do you know how much it actually cost you to produce your work, with all material costs and hourly cost included?
You really need to know this to identify your ‘break even point’ where your expenditure will equal your income.
Your cost price is the foundation of your business.
THE GOING RATE-(i will use)
Do you know what your competitors are asking or getting for similar work?
This is especially a common price strategy if there are a lot of similar products or services on offer in a competitive market e.g. freelance graphic or web designers. If you are too expensive or too cheap you will loose out.
VALUE-BASED PRICING-(i will use)
Do you realise how much value your work adds to your client’s business?
Most designers and makers hugely underestimate what they create for their clients. Value-based pricing is based on what your value creation actually could be.
BUNDLE PRICE
It is very common to offer a discount if buyers want more of your products or services at the same time,or if they book at the same time, to encourage them to buy more. This really is helpful for your planning and cash flow.
CREDIBILITY-BUILDING PRICE
Sometimes there are clients who you really want to work with, who are high-profile but have limited budgets e.g. in the cultural non-profit sector.
You can decide to work for them for a lower or no fee, but I would strongly suggest that you get something else in return than money!
PREMIUM OR PRESTIGE PRICE
Your price tells a story.
About where you want to position yourself, who your dream clients are, what your profile is, what the value is of your work.
EXTRA FEATURES PRICE
Have you got similar products or services at different price points within your range with extra features?
For example a ring in gold or a ring in silver have different prices, a ring with diamonds in the same collection has a different price again. All three rings might be very similar, but due to added features they get a different price.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRICE-(i will use)
It is better to price your product to a ‘regular’ number i.e. £95 instead of £102,15.
But psychological pricing also refers to – particularly in the gift market – the amounts that customers are on average prepared to pay for wedding or gifts. Especially department stores are very aware of this, e.g. the average price for a wedding gift to an acquaintance is £25, so if your product would retail just a little bit above this than that it will not be stocked by retailers.
DISCOUNTED PRICE
Giving a discount doesn’t work for all creative businesses as it can make you look cheap, and creative products and services are rarely bought purely on their price.
LOSS LEADER PRICE
This is selling your service or product below your cost price (so you are making a loss!) to attract clients in the hope that they will actually spend more money once they are with you. Supermarkets do this with baked beans, bread and banana’s.
EMERGENCY PRICE-(i will use)
Is your client in a pickle and do you know that you will have to work many many hours deep into the night to get the work delivered in time?
You might decide to do the client a favour, or consider to increase your hourly rate to compensate for the added stress.
INTERNATIONAL PRICE
It is not just the conversion rate that you need to check regularly (e.g. the British Pound has been fairly volatile over the last couple of months against the dollar and the Euro).
If you work internationally I would strongly suggest that you check out the local market, local prices and what your competitors charge locally, as different markets can differ hugely.
FIXED PROJECT BUDGET
Often a project has a total given price, which is often divided in different stages with according fees i.e. 30% deposit upfront, 50% creative stage, 20% delivery stage.
RETAINER
This is a recurring (monthly or quarterly) fee for a certain amount of often standardised work e.g. a graphic designer books a photographer for 2 days per month, every month of the year, to ensure a lower but reliable rate.
IT IS A GIVEN
Sometimes it is not up to you to decide the price, but the client or market decides!
There is a given price for a certain type of work e.g. the hourly rate of a freelancer with certain skills, a daylong training workshop, or when there is a tender for a public commission."
Target Audience
knowing your target audience is extremely important when starting a new business even before, you must check to make sure there is a market for what you are offering. starting a small design company in Nottingham, the target would be new small and independent businesses and start ups looking for a cool and fresh image.
- "Location"
- "Income level"
- "Occupation"
Information found at: http://millo.co/a-freelance-designers-target-audience-how-do-you-find-it
"FIND YOUR TARGET AUDIENCEfind your target audience and figure out if there are enough of them to keep you in business.
If there are, find out where they spend time online, what advertisements reach them the best (newspapers, community newsletters, forums, social media) and then get involved in those spaces.
STEP 4: FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCEJust because you’ve defined your target audience doesn’t mean you can NEVER accept work from anyone else. At the end of the day, money is money and work is work.
But you’ll find you’re spending your time and money more effectively if you focus your marketing efforts solely on your target audience.
Sure, you’ll get spill over. But focus on your target."
