After moving into a new house last year, it was time for me to upgrade from the old push mower I had been using. The new house came with a much larger area to keep up with and required a riding lawn mower if I ever wanted to do anything other than mow grass on the weekends. I shopped around at different stores for a couple of weeks and determined that most riding models were just too expensive. I decided to go with a used model from a local mower dealer–which was a little awkward to drive due to the square steering wheel, but seemed to be in good shape.
I brought it home where my wife immediately laughed at me and asked if I was “borrowing the old mower from the year 1955.” When I told her that I had purchased it, she was no longer laughing. She said that it had been a mistake to purchase the mower and that I should return it or I would regret it. This is tough for me to say, but my wife was right.
I had problems with the mower from the moment I engaged the cutting blade. I ended up spending a lot of time, energy and money getting a myriad of problems fixed. The real cost of this used mower far exceeded the price of the new mower (which came with a warranty and even — a round steering wheel).
Sometimes at Onyx Group, we see the same thing happen with business owners and their corporate identity. Often we are hired to help them create a stronger brand for their business. It is most often the case that they started their business years before and have grown to a point where their current brand and corporate identity have begun to hold them back from future growth. When they started their business, they either didn’t value great creative services or didn’t understand the importance of a strong, cohesive identity that could keep up with their growth.
Now, further down the road, they see the added cost of not only having us rework the identity, but also the expense of producing all new collateral. Shirts, signs, websites, invoices, letterhead, business cards, truck decals… The list goes on and even includes the time and energy of educating employees and customers of the change. The real cost of not hiring an experienced marketing and design firm in the beginning is much more than the higher cost on their quote.
Often times, you get what you pay for. Make sure you are getting the round steering wheel and new blades first or you will spend more time and money in the long run.
Tags: Branding, get what you pay for, Neil, onyx, strategic planning
