Imagine the following situation:
A man enters a restaurant. A regular customer, much like anyone else. He finds the right spot and waits for the waiter to serve him.
The waiter asks the typical question: “What can I get you today, sir?”
“Coffee with mustard.”
Like a true professional, the waiter maintains his poker face, but on the inside, he is reeling.
There are three ways to respond to this request.
- Right away, sir.
- I’m sorry, sir, we don’t serve coffee with mustard...
- Coffee with mustard isn’t on our menu, but we could make an exception today. What kind of mustard do you take with your coffee?”
Since our waiter is experienced and ready to please the customer, he considers the second and the third option. Does it matter if he understands or agrees with the customer’s choice? Not particularly. It’s a unique request, for sure. But that’s just it - it’s too unique. Who else is going to have this thought? Who else is going to feel a hankering for coffee with mustard?
Probably no one but this customer. He is going to be the only person in the world that is going to taste this unimaginable combination of flavors that only he enjoys.
Let’s go back a little. Our waiter is well aware that he works for a prominent, well-known restaurant whose staff is not about to change their modus operandi and do whatever the customer wants, since it goes against the brand they’ve spent years building. The next customer could ask for coffee with glitter, and that could seriously jeopardize their health.
We all know the old saying, “The customer is always right”. However, that simply cannot always be the case. Sometimes, we can’t just answer positively to each and every single demand the customers make. Sometimes, all we can do is take a deep breath and say, “I’m so sorry, sir. Unfortunately, we don’t serve coffee with mustard. Is there anything else I can offer you today instead?”
Now, let’s look at this through the lens of logo design. When it comes to designing your brand and your logo, there’s no such thing as “I want this because I like it”. There’s no personal preference. It can be hard to draw the line between what you like and what the market likes, especially for small business owners who are very attached to their company. After all, they built it from scratch, it’s their baby. However, they typically don’t have much in the way of marketing knowledge - it’s intimidating and they want to keep control over this part of the business process. Unfortunately, this is often the wrong path to take.
The first step to being a fantastic entrepreneur is to understand you need good branding, but that doesn’t make you a marketing professional. After all, that’s why you come to us.
We don’t create logos and brand identity for any one individual. There is no space for the intimate, personal, emotional approach. Serious businesses do not allow personal preferences to lead them. Instead, they try to communicate the essence of their business, their passion, and the effort they invested, with the rest of the world and their target audience. Again - coffee with mustard might taste good to the one who orders it, but it’s not likely to become a craze that all coffee shops are going to compete over.
It’s the same with logo design. You should create something that people across the globe can understand and relate to. As such, we take our brand design business seriously, and we dig deep.
Let me ask you something: would you like to have a logo and an identity that only you like, or would you like to have something that the market adores and rewards you for?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that logos, brands, and identities shouldn’t be original ideas, that they shouldn’t communicate the business owner’s vision and passion. What I am saying is that the message has to be suitable for new consumers, and professionals know exactly how to do that. They have studied for years and years to be able to do just that.
We at Designer and Gentleman do listen very carefully to what our clients’ needs and goals are. That input is of utmost importance to us. But we’re a little less lenient on how to achieve these goals. Being in the field successfully for so long has allowed us to develop the knowledge, experience, skills, and proven methods that work with the target audience.
The bottom line is: if you’re a “coffee with mustard” lover, I’m afraid that Designer and Gentleman don’t serve that kind of product. But if you’re into the highest-quality coffee logo design you could ever imagine, and you’re looking to achieve great communication on a global level - you’ve come to the right place!
