Does Branding Really Matter?

So let me get this out of the way off the jump: no one intelligent is actually asking if branding matters.

Of course it does, and anyone with an IQ over 50 can see that a) Every business, from solopreneur to Amazon has a brand, like it or not and b) Branding truly matters.

When I hear this question, or when you as an agency owner get this question, understand that what the business owner is asking is really "Which parts of my brand appearance, communication, product, and service matter more to my brand?"

Does the quality of my logo matter more?

Does my tagline matter? (It doesn't.)

Isn't it all about the product? Doesn't that matter more?

Doesn't customer service matter more?

And the answer is, as with everything, it depends on the goal.

And you, as a freelancer or agency owner, need to reframe the question as such.

What's triggering that question?

Too often, and I've been very guilty of it myself, we as creatives immediately get angry or defensive when people say "oh I don't need a brand", or "eh it's all a scam, it doesn't really matter".

To us, it seems unbelievably foolish. How the hell can you say that branding doesn't matter when we literally have millions of examples every day?

So we launch into long-winded tales and shpiels, posing faux-intelligent questions like "well how come Starbucks can charge more than Dunkin' Donuts?", instead of trying to unearth the trigger behind the question.

Reframe. Understand that they're asking.

I understand the importance of branding, but what matters more? What helps me more in my quest to accomplish business goal X?