Question

Topic: Branding

Client Won't Let Go....

Posted by AriRose on 5/19/2012 at 5:37 PM ET 300 Points
I was hired to help a software company create a new logo and brand image. We were successful in updating their logo, but the client is pushing back against our recommended changes to their branding - they currently use animal stock imagery on their website and collateral, and we are suggesting more dynamic, action imagery.

The software helps market research firms automate their reporting, dashboards and data-verification.

The key descriptive phrases we are using are: accuracy, power, speed, precision, excellence.

1. What are your thoughts on the client's current brand images - www.e-tabs.com ?

This compares to our suggested changes - https://bit.ly/LhXsCH

They are pushing back against our suggestions and I'd like to hear what other professionals feel.

2. What is your experience when you encounter this kind of response from a client? The "client is always right" and just go with them, or if you feel strongly enough, to continue to push your concept?

Thanks in advance for your insights.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by AriRose on 5/19/2012 at 5:39 PM Author
    Note: The client's website URL is www.e-tabs.com (remove the ? from hyperlink).
  • Posted by AriRose on 5/19/2012 at 5:46 PM Author
    Sorry - one more point to add: the new logo contains a "dart"/arrow which we wanted to incorporate into their brand, which works well with the arrow/speed imagery. The client has already agreed to this, but wants to keep their animals. If the client 'wins', we are stuck with 2 unconnected concepts - animals and a dart! What then?.....
  • Posted by Gail@PUBLISIDE on 5/19/2012 at 5:58 PM Accepted
    For starters, the animals really don't make sense as a design element ... but neither do the skydivers (I'm undecided about the soccer player at its connection to "Verify."

    Your ultimate decision depends on how badly you want the business. If you don't want to be associated with a project where the graphics and copy don't "talk with one another," back out and bill only the work that you've completed. Also realize, however, that the company may feel jilted and say negative things about you to other industry professionals, and you'll have to cover yourself on the "follow through" comments that may be made.

    Not every client will agree with you, even as you get into the thick of a project. In most cases, you have to respect that it's their business and they will have to take responsibility for the work that's done for their site.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/19/2012 at 6:12 PM Accepted
    What was in the creative brief? Was it acceptable to move away from animals to abstract notions of speed? Did they want to migrate away from animals gradually, suddenly, or not at all?

    (Aside: O'Reilly Press has been producing best-selling books on high-tech issues for years with animals on their covers.)
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 5/19/2012 at 6:40 PM Accepted
    1. "client is always right" is misunderstood, it really means nobody is ever successful by making the client wrong.

    2. I prefer the graphic direction in your pdf vs. the existing site's graphic solution

    3. To Jay's point, what does the written creative brief say.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 5/19/2012 at 9:30 PM Accepted
    Our opinions about the creative are meaningless. We're not the client, and we don't know what the Creative Brief says.

    If you worked on this project without a tight Creative Brief, then join the legions of creative folks who deserve to live with a client's subjective reaction to your work.

    If you did have a tight Creative Brief and delivered what it specified, then a discussion with the client about why they have decided to change the Creative Brief [without telling you] is probably in order, and you should be able to bill them for any changes they want -- in addition to the work you've delivered that meets the specs in the Creative Brief.

    In the end, it's the client's money and business at stake, so they get to call the shots. What YOU like and what WE like don't matter. Or resign the business if you don't want to be associated with the client's decision.
  • Posted by rachikwon on 5/19/2012 at 10:05 PM Accepted
    At the end of the day, you want to satisfy your clients and you want to respect how they want their site to look like. No matter how strongly you feel about your concept, it will not matter unless the clients approve it. The best thing you can do is understand how they want the site to look like and the changes they want to apply. It is your job to give them what they want and not force them to like what you think is best.
  • Posted by AriRose on 5/20/2012 at 12:54 AM Author
    Thanks for the quick replies.

    1. We were hire not only for the rebranding, but to essentially take over all marketing functions (trade show management, email marketing, social media, etc.). So at this point, we're in it for the long haul and don't see 'backing out' as an option.

    2. We unfortunately did NOT have a tight creative brief. It was essentially geared towards re-starting, re-boosting their entire marketing efforts, one important aspect of which was logo and brand. The specific direction was left open to our discretion.

    Do you think the direction we are heading is more engaging and attracting than their current design? They would probably be open to convincing if I made the argument with more objective outside opinions supporting us. Or not, if it's not a clear winner.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 5/20/2012 at 9:55 AM Accepted
    As others stated, you cannot win by making the customer wrong. Sometimes we have to work with the crayons given in the box. Its not the crayons we want, but we still have to make it work. It may not be they like their current logo so well, maybe you haven't given them something to lite the fire in them to want to change. Do what they hired you to do, and do it well.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 5/20/2012 at 5:49 PM Member
    My advice is as follows:

    1. Contact the administrators of this forum WITHOUT DELAY and ask them to remove your question and the responses you've received. The content above needs to be removed from the forum AND from the MarketingProfs server SOON.

    2. Deliver EXACTLY what the client is asking for.

    3. Resign the account, walk away, and never speak of this again.

    Here's why:

    Content on this forum is indexed and ranked by Google and other major search engines.

    You've included two links above, both of which identify your client—a company with an international presence.

    If your company has a gripe with a client, your CEO needs to take it up with their CEO: peer to peer.

    An issue like this should not be voiced in public. You may have meant well but you've quite probably laid a series minefield.

    Why?

    How might it look for your company if other, similar clients were to see how your company deals with an internal client issue? Do you think this will win your company new business? I don't.

    You have time to fix this before it comes back to bite
    you in the ass. Think about the longer term implications of identifying your client and of outlining your disagreement with them here on this most public of forums. Were I your client and were I to discover you'd been garnering opinion on an internal issue behind my back, my working relationship with you would probably come to an abrupt end.

    Am I being overly alarmist here? Possibly.

    You can ignore my advice and hope your collection of "more objective outside opinions" will help sway your client's position. To my mind, I don't think this will help. The client seems to want what the client wants. It's your job to make sure they get what they're asking for.

    Or you can carry out damage limitation.

    Let's reverse the issue. Were you the client and were
    you having "creative disagreements" with a vendor—disagreements that you then discovered were being voiced in an open forum without your consent, what would YOU do?

    Were I the client, first thing on Monday morning I'd
    be having a little chat with the vendor and they'd
    be the ones doing all the listening.

    To avoid things like this next time, work out and agree
    a tight, bullet proof, armor plated strategy and distill
    the living daylights out of it so that the creative work stemming from that strategy CANNOT be faulted. I'm a graphic designer and a marketer. Every time I've IGNORED the simple, cast iron strategy rule I've just outlined, things have gone south and the result has been awful.

    Clear the record. Deliver what's asked for. Please the client. Move on. Life's too short.
  • Posted by AriRose on 5/21/2012 at 7:12 AM Author
    I appreciate your enthusiastic reply Gary. Firstly, the client knows we are going to solicit other opinions. The client wrote this to us previously - "I realize you don't agree - I'm happy to be persuaded - please try. I realize I'm being difficult."

    Secondly, the concept of "crowd-sourcing" is a well known and accepted concept in today's 'social world'. I think the opinions presented here will be very valuable to both ourselves, and the client. I intend on sharing many of the replies here with them (maybe not yours!). I don't think soliciting opinions from fellow professionals is working behind the client's back - it's working in the best interest of the client.

    With that stated, I truly appreciate your professional advice and will give it serious thought. Thank you.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 5/21/2012 at 8:34 AM Member
    Duly noted. Good luck with your feedback. I hope it works in everyone's favor.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 5/21/2012 at 4:29 PM Accepted
    OK. I'll play the game.

    I think the animals are too far afield from the product/benefits. They rely on borrowed interest and do not help communicate an important benefit. Net: The current approach is probably not where they should be.

    Recommended approach is better, but it's still not clear what the visuals are supposed to communicate. Fast? Accurate? Exhilarating? And with the number of options, I think the target audience might become confused. Why not a single message and visual?

    It looks to me like you/the client have sidestepped the critical step of defining the positioning you want to stake out for yourself. What is the most important benefit you deliver to customers? Why not communicate THAT?

    This looks like creativity is overtaking strategy ... a dangerous way to play the game.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 5/21/2012 at 6:17 PM Accepted
    Why use images at all? Why not offer simple, ten word headlines that telegraph half a dozen powerful benefits that are, in turn, each connected to the most widely searched for key phrase relevant to the client's business?
  • Posted on 5/22/2012 at 1:40 PM Accepted
    I see both overall points here. One thing I know is debating a visual diversion from their original content is merely preferential in nature; as neither imagery portray the actual product.

    Unless you can provide some statistical data as to why these action concepts better encapsulate their message I am afraid you are better off going with the clients wishes. If you want to ‘sell’ an idea, you really have to be specific as to why it’s better as a value proposition, other than resting on aesthetic appeal. That is too subjective.

    Good Luck,
    Valerie Marengo
  • Posted by AriRose on 5/22/2012 at 3:01 PM Author
    Thank you everyone for your valuable input. This has been an interesting and enlightening conversation. However, I think I will in fact take Gary's suggestion and have the Administrator remove the post, lest the client misunderstand the role of this forum. Thanks again.
  • Posted on 5/29/2012 at 3:31 PM Member
    To me the image of a thrown dart means more "random outcome" rather than "verification".

    Of course, I'm an accountant, not an advertising / media professional
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