Some of these questions are rooted in the desire to cut the expenses or to imitate competition. Yet many entrepreneurs who are willing to invest in branding services are unaware of what exactly they are getting or what they should pay attention to.

This confusion is not surprising since even the definition of a brand is still a matter of discussion between experts. Earlier definitions looked at a brand as a mere name or a symbol intended to identify goods/services of one cooperation from its competitors (Aaker, 1991). Later a brand is defined as a 'set of mental associations, held by the consumer, which add to the perceived value of a product or service' (Keller, 1998).

This emphasis on added value encouraged branding to be mostly a communication's task. This is an improvement from the idea that a brand is a mark or even a product, however, it won't help your business thrive today. This practice has produced few negative visions: adding value that is not present in the product. How do you think it makes a customer feel when businesses take this branding practice and produce less then average products covered with the added perceptions? With where social media is at today those businesses are short lived.

Leading brands do not produce best products though, but they have managed to make a good balance between tangible and intangible values and create communities around those. Now I want you to ask yourself this question: will a visual identity (aka logo, font system, colour palette, etc.) do that for you?

Of course not, that's why hiring a graphic designer with no branding experience to create one for you is not a wise investment. The truth is it takes bringing creativity and strategy together: that's the true craft.

Agencies do it very well: they have professional resources to do so and also a big overhead to keep up. Their services will cost you six figures and the price is more than justified. What about companies who cannot afford the big budget? In the current oversaturated markets it's SMEs who feel the increasing need in good branding. Thankfully, there are few independent brand makers who cater their services to those businesses. But what should one pay attention to when hiring a professional?

Let's start by breaking down brand identity: in its essence, it is what your brand is made of, it's DNA. In my own practice brand identity is spread over two parts: brand concept and visual identity.

First part covers your bigger purpose, vision, values, personality & physique; it will uncover the richness of meaning, your form and spirit, needs you're fulfilling. Before the design process begins, however, a brand concept also includes positioning: a competitive side of brands which answers what, why, for/against whom? What do customers compare your product with? What do you offer them as a clear decision-making rational?

It's important to note that you should be an active participant in construing brand identity & positioning. Branding professionals have their own workshops designed to foster the most fruitful dialogue between themselves and the key stakeholders.

Brand concept acts as a foundation for your brand: no matter how beautiful the architectural design is without foundation a building will not stand. Design process is equally important and when overlooked can make your brand undesirable.

If I could only give one brand advice to business owners it would be this: to equally value strategy + design and never do one without the other.