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F R O M T H E F O U N D E R
While there are no doubt some costs associated with making a brand for your firm, a lot of it just boils down to a little work and some discipline. You can create a real brand for your firm!
I think a lot of people who own and manage AEC firms think they cannot create a real brand for their business that would allow them to better compete with larger national/international firms. They’ll say, “We’re too small,” or, “We’re just a local business,” or, “There’s no way we can afford to do that,” or, “That’s impossible.” None of these things are true!
Mark Zweig
While there are no doubt some costs associated with making a brand for your firm, a lot of it just boils down to a little work and some discipline, and voilà – you will have a brand! Some people may ask why it’s important to have a brand that is known and recognizable? Hey – if you don’t want to get better fees for whatever you are selling, don’t want to grow your business, and don’t want a stream of good people trying to get jobs with you, don’t worry about creating a brand! If, on the other hand, those do sound like good things, then here is the way to make it a reality: ❚ ❚ Consistency. It’s amazing how many firms in this business do not have complete consistency in the name and colors they use. Many times, names of companies are turned into “alphabet soup,” when
“Johnson, Jones, and Smith” is referred to both inside and outside the company as “JJ&S” because the real name is deemed too long to write out. The next thing that happens is “JJ&S” becomes “JJS,” because the “&” is deemed by someone to be unnecessary. Before you know it, the company now looks like it is operating under three different names. It gets even more confusing when the people in one office decide they like a “pretty maroon color“ because those are the colors of the college football team in their town, instead of the red color the firm originally used for its logo. Then, someone in an office in another city decides that grey is a better color than the corporate red, and when they get a new sign for their new office they use their grey color for the logo. Oh yes, they may also change the font slightly so the sign, in the judgement of
See MARK ZWEIG, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 23, 2021, ISSUE 1405
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