RESOURCES

FAQs

What's the difference between a logo and a brand?

Branding is the culmination of all things that represent your company, products, services, and culture. A logo is just one part of your overall brand identity.

What is branding exactly?

branding /' brandiNG/ noun: the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.

Why is branding important for a business?

Ask yourself, would it benefit your business to have a better reputation or for your customers to have a consistent experience with your company? People don't trust advertising; people trust people. So, instead of focusing on communicating your benefit (advertising), focus on improving how your customers think about you (branding). And then your advertising can be more authentic!

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Branding is important for a business because it provides the business with a roadmap to help it make decisions, strategically position itself within the market, and help differentiate it from its competitors. Branding provides consistency and helps businesses improve their customers' experiences. This gives businesses the advantage of having customers who feel positive enough to promote the company to their own network of people.

What value does your business bring to my brand?

We are a boutique agency with big business experience. We count our clients as brand partners, getting to know you and your business personally to provide the best service we can to help meet your business goals.

What type of creative services do you offer?

We offer brand discovery and positioning, logo and visual branding, advertising, web design, video and TV production, photography, social media and media management, and public relations services.

Do you design websites?

Yes, we do. We've won several awards for our website designs. Visit https://www.stimulusbrand.com/cases to see some of our work.

What type of industries do you work with?

We are a generalist agency, meaning we aren't niche to any industry and have experience across B2B and Consumer categories in everything from financial services, healthcare, food and beverage, education, real estate, museums, and tourism to nonprofits and governments.

Do you work on a retainer?

Yes. We can work on a per-project or hourly basis. Projects are estimated separately and billed ½ up-front at the start of each project and then balance-billed on completion. We offer retainer services, which dedicate a set amount of hours per month specifically for your business or organization. The more hours you purchase, the bigger the discount. This allows us to be your de facto creative team. Monthly retainers may also be arranged based on a planned broad mix of work.

Do you offer a-la-carte services?

Absolutely. We recognize that often, rebrands can start with a singular project such as a logo design, a brochure, or a website project. We have a process that takes our partner's brand development all the way to website design and digital marketing; however, we are able to help you out with specific projects on a case-by-case basis. Contact us to learn more.

What do you charge?

We are not a cookie-cutter solution and want to get to know you better. The type of services you want and the hours you need to reach your business goals vary greatly, so it's difficult to just pull something off the shelf and give you a price. We work with small mom and pops, all the way to international organizations, with budgets to match. Talk to us, and we'll price it based on you.

How much do logo design services cost?

Logo design is typically done on a quote basis. The cost of a professionally designed logo from a creative agency will be significantly more than a quick $100 design from an online service. However, be warned: the difference in quality shows. While some businesses prefer to go with an unknown freelancer to save a few dollars at the outset, the cost of having to rebrand later on is much more costly. Getting it right is well worth it!

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And, it's worth knowing that an existing stock logo or copy from someone else's mark cannot be trademarked for your brand mark.

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The price for logo design services varies by the scope of the project. For example, if the logo design is coupled with brand naming, it would be a larger project than a logo redesign. Some organizations simply want to update their logo to look more modern without drastically changing the look, which takes less time to design than creating a logo from scratch.

Do you have packages?

We do. We have a couple of different packages based on your needs, which include brand discovery, logo design, business papers, and website design. Let's talk about the scope of your needs.

Do you have a portfolio of samples or past campaigns?

We are proud of our diverse portfolio of award-winning creative work developed across many industries and media forms. Visit https://www.stimulusbrand.com/cases to preview creative cases.

What is the design process for branding?

Branding includes everything from brand conception, naming, and logo design to colors and font selection. Your brand is represented in your company's identity, and it is deeply embedded in everything you do. That is why we take the time to understand your business and industry to create a brand that fully reflects who you are as a company.

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Our approach to brand naming involves an initial "discovery meeting" where we take the time to learn all about your product/service, values, and preferences. From there, our creative team will research ideas for names individually, review them as a group, and then finally provide you with a narrowed-down list of the best names for you to review.

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For the logo design process, we put our years of experience to work, do the research on your company, and spend the time to design several custom logo concepts and variations. We also take the time to test the logo concepts to see how they would work on different media types (web, print, digital ads, signage, clothing, etc.).

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With just a few quick questions, our team can get you an accurate quote within minutes. Request a quote for logo design services now.

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What is the process for a website redesign?

Creating a new website involves having a keen sense of your brand style (colors, fonts, imagery, tone, and more) and an understanding of your business products and services. We begin by teaming with our client to review key questions in our Creative Strategic Document. Understanding the key deliverables (messaging, supporting content, and desired action steps) and developing a content strategy that matches your brand spirit.

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The next stage involves creating the website design. We will design multiple mockups ( 2 to 3) of your new website and review it with you, then incorporate your feedback before developing the site.

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Once the site is developed, we will analyze, optimize, and then migrate your content. In the final stages, we will review your new web design with you and train your team on how to manage the back-end platform to keep your website updated.

What is the typical turnaround time of a website design project?

Depending on the scope of your website project, web design and development can take anywhere between 6 to 12 weeks from the initial meeting to the launch date. The development of content can often extend a project for months, depending on the depth of content and deliverables.

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There are several reasons why a website project may take more or less time, and it depends on the client as much as the creative agency. As the client, you can help the web design process go as smoothly as possible by providing all of the required content for your website upfront, providing high-quality images to use, and outlining any required integrations.

How much does website design cost?

The cost of a website design varies greatly by the size of the website, required functionality, integrations, and level of customization. This is why creative agencies typically offer a quote for website design instead of having a set price list.

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Extremely large websites take longer to migrate and require a more complex menu structure than minimalist sites, therefore requiring a larger investment. The amount of functionality required for your website also affects the price. Features like an online store, blogging, event registration, forms, user permissions, private pages, interactive maps, etc. will all be taken into consideration for a web design quote.

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The level of customization in the web design also affects the price. Styling the website layout to match your company's brand guidelines is a fairly straightforward process. Adding more unique customizations like page animations, transition effects, or icon designs will cost more. For a quote on your website design project, give us a call.

How can I update my website once it is designed?

Most creative agencies will completely pass the website off to you once the design is complete. Then, it is up to you to assign an in-house developer or hire a contractor to take care of the upkeep.

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The process for updating your website depends on the content management system (CMS) that was used to build it. Open-source CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal can be challenging for non-technical people to use on a daily basis and sometimes require costly and frustrating updates and maintenance.

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StimulusBrand takes a completely different approach to website maintenance. Think of us as your website partner. We have developed websites on easy-to-learn platforms to enable our clients to make edits directly on their websites without any coding expertise needed! At the completion of your new website, we schedule a training session for your designated team member(s) to learn the steps to maintain your web content. Not only is it simple to make edits to your website's design, but you can easily add new content with our drag-and-drop editor.

We also offer live support to help you make edits to your website that may be larger than you can handle or to troubleshoot editing issues

What are the benefits of using a creative agency over a freelance designer?

When you work with a creative agency, you get access to a team of designers, developers, copywriters, and project managers. With freelancers, it's up to you to hire each role individually or look for someone who is a master of all trades, which is pretty rare, especially for web design.

There is also increased accountability and professionalism expected from creative agencies.

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Creative agencies have more of a reputation to uphold, which means being able to hold them accountable for our work. Creative agencies are also viewing your work as a part of a bigger picture, seeking continuity and consistency.

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StimulusBrand stands behind all of our creative work, and if called upon, we are more than willing to share our creative process. This typically leads to a higher-quality end product.

Who will work on my project?

Our team is U.S based; therefore you will always be able to communicate with a human during business hours. You can also reach us during off-hours by email or phone. Visit https://www.stimulusbrand.com

What are the benefits of having a dedicated project manager?

A dedicated project manager is beneficial to the client because they act as the main point of contact for any questions about the design project. When designers and developers are working on creative projects, they rarely have the time to reply right away to client questions. When you have a dedicated project manager, you can always expect a prompt response along with proactive updates.

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Project managers are also necessary for the agency because they help the team stay on schedule and budget. They can also act as quality control; everything that's passed from the creative team to the client goes through another pair of eyes to ensure the quality of the work.

What is your creative process?

We follow strict guidelines to create successful brands and brand communication. Our 3 step process allows us to streamline the visual aspect of design.

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First, we begin by considering the attributes/features of the brand. Next, we identify the benefits you offer the customer. Finally, we identify the segments you mean to target. The feedback allows us to create and structure the positioning statement in a more effective way.

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Secondly, we work on the positioning statement. This focuses on creative development by giving us a precise idea of your values, benefits, and attributes. The positioning statement answers questions such as who we are targeting, what we do for the target, and the brand differentiators between you and other local resources.

Lastly, we create a creative strategy framework. We begin with a creative brief including your target demographic, facts, features, benefits, message objective, marketing goals, etc. We then implement the framework into the design production phase, keeping clear communication.

What kind of results do I expect to see?

What you expect to see depends on what your focus is, your competition, and your business. We can set up a discovery call to determine the best focus for you, design a plan, and give you an idea of what to expect at that time.

What is the difference between local SEO and just SEO?

Search engine optimization is a broad term that encompasses many facets that help your website rank higher in search engines. Local SEO narrows the focus to just your location, using tactics to show up for searches near you.

What is a content strategy?

A content strategy is a plan for developing the written content for your website. It outlines your website goals, target audience, key performance indicators (KPIs), tone of voice, and vision for your organization. It serves as an important guide to follow when designing your website so that your vision is communicated effectively.

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When you work with StimulusBrand to design your website, we don't just copy and paste your old content to the new website design. We will work with you to develop a content strategy that will better serve your objectives. We'll help you improve your website content by reorganizing the structure, revising the copy, selecting great images, and optimizing all of it for search engines.

What digital marketing services do you offer?

StimulusBrand also offers digital marketing options. The first type of digital marketing is paid ads. This includes Google Ads, native advertising, and social media advertising. The second is through inbound marketing, which involves attracting visitors to your site via content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO). Some methods can be more costly but will drive immediate results. Other methods cost much less but can be very time-intensive. If your company doesn't have the manpower to generate quality content on a regular basis, you can partner with StimulusBrand or a content writer to help with this endeavor.

StimulusBrand's creative team has over 42 years of experience with advertisement design for both print and digital, including magazines, newspapers, billboards, digital displays, online ads, and social media ads.