Marketing (and advertising) is a three legged stool. Miss a leg, and it won’t stand up no matter how hard you try.
The three legs are having a:
- clear brand identity
- marketing plan
- creative brief for the project at hand.
Each item is crucial to developing an effective marketing piece that fits with the everything else you do, share, or offer.
Why everyone expects you to have a logo
Having a clear brand identity means people will recognize you as you each time they come across something of yours. It’s more than just a logo, it’s the colors, brand voice, vibe, textures, really everything they can see—including your products. If every piece looks different, there’s no continuity and people will lose trust as well as not recognizing you.
What a marketing plan allows you do to
Establishing a marketing plan allows you to know how this ONE piece fits in with the rest of the plan. How it supports your goals and will move you towards what you want to achieve. Without a marketing plan of any kind, it’s just shooting in the dark and hoping for the best.
Why you need a creative brief
The creative brief establishes the singular goal for the piece you want created. It informs the piece about your past, present, and future so it can achieve its one goal clearly, effectively, and in alignment with everything else.
All three of these are required to truly develop any single marketing piece that will further grow your business.