Why would a company that’s growing year-on-year spend time and money at this busy time to revamp its brand?
Isn’t brand just a gimmick? Something that design companies drag out to make a profit?
More specifically, in our line of work, why does brand matter to Chartered Surveyors?
The answer is to be found in that single word. Brand. It’s a much misused term. One that originally referred to the number burned into cattle to demonstrate ownership. And one that has been associated with a ‘mark’ or ‘logo’ ever since.
That’s where the misunderstanding comes in. Because a logo on its own does not make a brand. A corporate brand is a personality. It’s about a business’ essence. About the experience inside and outside the company, whether one experiences it on the phone, via email, in a meeting, or in a report that arrives afterwards.
In the retail sector people take this for granted. Coca Cola is all about youth, energy and joy. And every can is designed to encapsulate those values, as is every advertisement. Take Nike. Competitive, aggressive, cutting edge. Again, the logo may be a swoosh, but it has come to represent all those things.
However, in the service industries, the benefit of a cohesive brand is often overlooked.
For a Chartered Surveyor, brand is crucial. Every surveyor can tick certain boxes: education; technical qualifications; comprehensive understanding of how buildings work. These technical aspects of being a Chartered Surveyor are vital, but they don’t set any qualified professional apart from the field.
Great firms of surveyors put people first. They understand the implications of works on landlords, tenants and agents. They are diplomatic, thoughtful and empathetic.
But too many surveying firms create a look and feel that just tries to be corporate for the sake of being corporate. Logos that say nothing about the personality behind the business. Websites that look formal and technical. Even phone messages that don’t sound at all welcoming or helpful.
That’s such a shame. Because a great brand in our profession is about relationships. It’s about complementing technical skills with a human touch. It’s about clients feeling the same emotions when they speak to or meet someone from the firm, but also when they come across their website or see their logo at a conference. It needs to be a seamless experience with the brand being reinforced every step along the way.
So that’s why brand matters. It is an attempt to create a look and feel that reflects what a firm of surveyors does rather than what they do. It creates clarity around a service offering rather than just a generic menu of products.
It’s not easy, particularly when you are focused on the day-to-day running of the business. But I am convinced that brand matters. Not just to Earl Kendrick, but to every firm of Chartered surveyors who want their clients and contacts to understand what they stand for, and what to expect from them.
Julian Davies is a surveyor and founder of Earl Kendrick Associates
