Marketing - ‘The Colouring In’ Department?

Apparently, the C-suite perceives the marketing department as ‘the colouring in’ department.

This was news to me when I heard it on the brand management course at the Marketing Week/Mark Ritson Mini MBA.

It didn’t accord with my own perception of marketing as attracting sales, which is the very lifeblood of an organisation!

However, it seems that marketers need to avoid discussing issues that are perceived as surface, cosmetic stuff like brand colours, symbols, logos, imagery, and the like with the C Suite lest they alienate executives and are taken less seriously.

Elements like brand colours, symbols, logos, and the like are ownable as trademarks, either immediately when they’re created, or later once they’ve become ‘distinctive through use’.

That is, if you start with the right intention and understanding of IP. For example, if you choose an industry colour it's going to be too generic for you to ever own, regardless of how much advertising you do.

It’s worthwhile for marketers to thoroughly understand the IP aspects of branding, so they can get the right identity created, and speak the language of the C suite when discussing branding.

Currently, the tendency to chop and change the visual identity even after the first 5 years of so, betrays a lack of understanding about what it takes to ensure the visual identity of a business becomes extremely valuable IP.

The fact is that IP rights are generally respected by the C suite (because they’re perceived to be a crucial aspect of a company’s success, providing competitive advantages and recourse against others). So, I wonder whether speaking the language of the C suite would give more gravitas to discussions about the visual dimension of marketing?

I believe visual identity is extremely important because we know from semiotics and other disciplines that such elements impact sales - people buy emotionally and justify their decisions rationally. So, the subject needs to be understood by business owners and the C Suite.

I’ve teamed up with talented graphic designers to include a visual identity as a bonus with the Brand Tuned-up service for those who buy before the end of the week.

Once you’ve got the visual identity, it’s easy to get other assets created for you, such as business cards, letterhead, social media banners, website etc.

If you’re on a tight budget you could get a 5-page website using a low-cost platform and avoid the need to spend thousands when you’re just getting started. You won’t come across as cheap as the basic visual identity will be well designed and appropriate for your brand.

You can always replace your website, business card designs, social media banners etc with better ones later. Your basic visual identity should stay the same though.

That’s why I've included a visual identity with the Brand Tuned up service.