“We want something modern.”
It’s one of the most common briefs a branding agency in Lagos hears, and one of the most dangerous. Not because it’s wrong, but because “modern” means something different to every person in the room.
When One Word Means Several Things
To one client, modern means clean and minimal. To another, it means bold and unconventional. Nobody’s lying, and nobody’s being difficult. The word just isn’t specific enough for a creative agency to build a brand identity on.
We’ve seen this play out from both directions.
A client asked for something modern. Voila! we delivered a clean, contemporary identity and they didn’t like it, because in their head, “modern” had meant something closer to edgy and experimental.
In a separate project, a client asked for something abstract, and when we delivered exactly that, the feedback came back that it felt “too abstract.” Both projects were technically doing exactly what was asked. Both still needed rework, because the brief and the expectation weren’t actually the same thing.
None of this is about clients being difficult, or agencies missing the mark. It’s about a simple, fixable gap.
A single word like “modern” or “abstract” can’t carry the weight of an entire visual direction on its own. The businesses that get the smoothest, fastest experience working with a branding agency in Lagos are the ones who give their agency more to work with than an adjective.
Why Vague Branding Briefs Slow Everything Down
When a brief is too open, a branding agency will have to guess, or spend extra rounds asking questions before design work can even start. Guessing can lead to a well-executed concept that still misses the client’s actual expectation. Asking more questions upfront takes a bit more time before the first concepts appear, but it saves far more time overall, because it avoids full rounds of rework after a direction has already been designed, presented, and rejected.
Every round of “this isn’t quite it” costs real time, usually more than the extra 30 minutes it would have taken to align on direction before the first pixel was placed.
The Cost of Getting the Brief Wrong
The impact of this isn’t just anecdotal. Separate research from Nielsen has found that around 40% of rebranding campaigns fail to deliver a positive return on investment and the majority of those failures trace back to weak research and an unclear strategic foundation going into the project.
In other words, the brief is often where a branding project actually succeeds or fails, long before the first concept is presented.
On the flip side, the payoff for getting it right is well documented too. According to Marq’s (formerly Lucidpress) State of Brand Consistency Report, businesses that maintain a clear, consistent brand across every channel can see revenue increases of up to 33% compared to those with inconsistent branding.
A strong, well-briefed identity isn’t just a smoother process. It’s a measurable business asset once it’s out in the world.
What a Branding Agency in Lagos Actually Needs From You
You don’t need design language or a formal brand strategy document to give your creative agency what they need. You mostly need examples and honesty about what you don’t like, which is often more useful than what you do.
1. Reference Brands (Even Outside Your Industry)
“Modern like this” is far more useful than “modern.” Pull 3-5 brands, websites, or even physical products whose feel you’re drawn to. They don’t have to be competitors, and they don’t have to make sense together. The agency’s job is to find the common thread in what you’ve picked.
2. Brands You Specifically Don’t Want to Resemble
This is just as valuable as what you like. Knowing what to avoid narrows the direction fast, and it often reveals things clients struggle to say out loud unprompted — “not corporate,” “not like [specific competitor],” “not too playful for our industry.”
3. Who You’re Actually Trying to Reach
A brand identity aimed at high-net-worth clients over 40 looks and feels different from one aimed at 20-something early adopters, even if both businesses might describe themselves as “modern.” Say who you’re trying to win over, not just how you want to look.
4. What Your Business Does, and What It’s Genuinely Like to Work With You
This sounds obvious, but it’s frequently skipped. A creative agency designing your brand identity is trying to visually represent your actual business (your pace, your formality (or lack of it), what makes a client trust you.) That context shapes far more design decisions than most people expect.
5. Non-Negotiables and Where You’re Actually Flexible
If there’s a color you refuse to use, a style you associate with a bad past experience, or a specific element that must be included, say so early. Just as importantly, say where you’re open to being guided. A good agency will have a professional opinion, and telling them where you want that opinion is often the fastest way to a result you’ll actually like.
What a Vague Word Actually Means
Words like “modern,” “abstract,” “premium,” or “bold” aren’t useless. They’re just starting points, not finish lines.
A good branding agency in Lagos will ask follow-up questions to unpack them: modern as in minimal, or modern as in unconventional? Premium as in understated luxury, or premium as in visibly high-end?
If your branding agency isn’t asking these questions, that’s worth flagging early and if you’re the one being asked, answering with specifics (or reference images) rather than a rephrased version of the same adjective will save both sides real time.
What This Looks Like in Practice
The businesses that move through branding fastest with us aren’t the ones with the most design knowledge. They’re the ones willing to spend 20-30 minutes upfront pulling together a few reference images, naming a couple of brands they don’t want to look like, and being honest about their audience and their non-negotiables.
That small amount of upfront clarity routinely saves multiple rounds of revisions later, and it tends to produce a stronger, more accurate first concept because the branding agency isn’t guessing anymore.
The Bottom Line
A branding agency in Lagos, or anywhere, can only design as clearly as you brief.
“Modern” and “abstract” aren’t bad words; they’re just incomplete on their own. The more context, references, and honest boundaries you bring to the table before work begins, the faster you’ll land on a brand identity that actually feels right the first time.
Edens Digital is a branding agency in Lagos working with businesses across Nigeria and the diaspora to build brand identities that hold up from the first concept to the final rollout. If you’re planning a rebrand or a brand from scratch, see examples of our branding work or get in touch to start with a proper discovery conversation.
