In previous episodes, we covered brand definition, its protection, and the financial side. Today, the question "when" awaits us. Ondra, when you agree with a client on strategy and budget, what is the realistic time horizon? When will we see results?

That is a question I hear very often. I always start by asking the client: "Where do you see yourself in three years?" or "Where do you see yourself in ten years?". It is important to realize that brand building is not a sprint, but a marathon.

That sounds logical, but companies often want to see something tangible right away. Like the new website.

It is beautifully illustrated precisely with the website. The company says: "We want a new website." But we start asking them about things they haven't asked themselves until then. We find out that the website is not just about design, but about what the company actually is at its core. So, besides the website, we are suddenly dealing with strategy, because without it, we cannot move forward.

Do you have any feedback from clients that they considered it unnecessary? That after three years, they said it brought them nothing?

Honestly, that has not happened to me. But something else happened to me, which I consider to be the best possible decision for the given company: at the end of the strategic phase, we said we wouldn't go through with it.

That sounds like a failure, but you probably don't see it that way?

Not at all! It costs money—to reach this realization—but it only costs a fraction of what the company would have thrown away on creatives and communication that would then not work. It is absolutely legitimate to say: "Thank you for the analysis, but we find that we don't have the capacity, money, or it is not worth it for us right now." As a strategic partner, I am satisfied with such a result, because I know that if we forced them into something they don't believe in, we would all be unhappy.

That reminds me of psychotherapy. It's like corporate therapy, isn't it?

Exactly! It's psychotherapy and, in a sense, medicine. In ten to fifteen percent of cases, we find at the beginning that it's simply not going anywhere. For success, the key is agreement that the change is substantial and strategic. We essentially take the company apart and then put it back together into something new.

Let's get to the numbers. Can it be done in 14 days? Or a month?

No. The initiation, research, and strategic phase typically lasts four to six months. It's not that we spend thousands of hours of pure time on it, but the things need to mature. You have to plan them, agree on them, let calendar time pass. And only when this is "decided," does the implementation phase begin.

And in that phase, you start spending on the tangible things.

Yes, copywriters, photographers, graphic designers, filmmakers, web developers step in... And how much time does just the website take?

I would guess about half a year.

Exactly, half a year just for the website. And that's not the programmer's fault. It's about content. You have to think about what the page says, how it is structured for different target groups. For technology companies or companies with a wide range of services, it is incredibly demanding. You have to prepare case studies, product stories, and all of this in a new form. Today, the website is the first place where the new brand identity materializes.

So, if I total it up—from the first meeting with you until the moment you launch it into the world and the brand truly begins to establish itself, we are talking about a horizon of one year?

I really hate to say it, because it might be a "dealbreaker" for someone, but yes—it's roughly a year. If you genuinely want to conquer new markets, expand, or change the company's perception, it's a serious consideration. If you don't underpin your foundation with a quality strategy, you've thrown a third of that investment out the window.

Does it happen often that companies underestimate marketing?

It happens all the time. Companies make professional decisions about business, expansion, suppliers, but then they do brand perception "on their knees" (haphazardly). And after two years, they find that it's not working for them. It is a huge waste of energy and money. Please, don't do it. It is worth the time to do it properly.