Your Brand Matters
The rise of the internet has given companies access to an audience of millions, if not billions, of potential customers. While this rise in accessibility can help to level the playing field for smaller businesses, it also means countless companies are trying to make an impression in a very crowded and noisy marketplace. To stand out, your company needs to have a brand that differentiates you from the rest.
What is a brand? While many use the terms' brand' and 'logo' interchangeably, a logo is only one small part. A brand is the customer's perception of the qualities and attributes of a non-generic product or service. Simply put, it is what someone thinks of when they hear your company's name. What do you think of when you hear J.Crew? How does it differ from when you think of Old Navy? The customer's perception is the essence of a brand, and it is not something a company can entirely control. Facebook is an example of how a brand can quickly lose control of the messaging and turn into something negative. Not sure what we are talking about? Check out this article from Inc Magazine on how Facebook is struggling with its brand.
To build or overhaul your brand, you need first to identify the elements of a brand. As stated, it is more than just a logo. A brand needs to communicate your company's benefits, values, personality, consistency, and messaging. Let's break down each of these aspects to better help.
Benefits
How does someone benefit from using your product or service? People need to know how their life will be easier, better, or improved by using your product. Identify the benefits as this will help with telling the story. Be realistic. Your brand cannot do everything for everyone, but explain how it makes someone's life better or improved.
Values
Brands are like people; they believe in something. Even without a mission statement or vision statement, your brand and your company should have a value system, and it needs to be communicated through your brand to tell your customers what you believe. People want to trust the companies with which they do business. Identifying and communicating your values will do this.
Why does Whole Foods have a pretty fervent fanbase? Because Whole Foods and its employees live by the values identified. Shopping there means buying quality products every time. How do Whole Foods compare with Wal-Mart? Probably not favorably for most. The less favorable standing means Wal-Mart has an uphill battle when trying to overhaul its brand values. It doesn't matter what a brand says its values are; it matters if the consumer believes those are the company's values. You build trust in action, not just words.
Personality
Since brands are like people, they can have a set of human characteristics attributed to them, and this is how a brand can develop a personality. You see someone wearing Vans (shoes). If you are familiar with the brand, you almost immediately assign the wearer to the same character as the brand. Vans tend to be synonymous with skate and surf cultures, so someone wearing the shoes might seem like they like being outside the status quo. Even though Vans have become quite mainstream in recent years, they still enjoy the reputation of being unorthodox.
Sometimes you cannot control the personality assigned to your brand. Authenticity is key. Just because you say your brand is premier or luxurious doesn't automatically make it so. You need to back it up with a product that supports that characteristic. Over time you also need to make sure that your business strategy supports the brand personality.
For a time, Coach's reputation was as a high-end, women's luxury brand. But the business focused on expansion and mass-market appeal, and that took away from the exclusivity of the product. Go into any Macy's, and you will see Coach product stuffed together on tables and shelves. No longer a premier product, the brand personality has shifted.
Help Your Business Create the Right Brand Messaging
Just because you say so doesn't make it so. Maybe you already have an established brand, but you don't think it is communicating the right message, or perhaps you are creating a new product and want to start on the right foot; the key is to start with a brand audit. How well do you know you? Existential right? But it is not something you can just answer on your own. Here it would help if you found out what others say about you, and this is where a brand audit is the key to success:
Interview customers, past customers, prospects, employees to see what their impressions are.
Where do you stand in comparison to your competitors?
Identify what makes your business unique - it may not be easy. Everyone thinks they're special, but unfortunately, it isn't always true. Why do people choose to do business with you?
Choose your creative elements to make sure they communicate the same message across all channels.
It all matters - Print, business cards, website, email, social media. Consistency in messaging is key to authenticity and building trust.
Analyze and update as needed.
Brands are not static. They change, usually organically, so make sure you take time to evaluate over time.
While it might just seem like a buzzword, identifying your brand is key to creating clear and consistent messaging throughout your organization to build a relationship with your customer. Not sure where to start? We can help. Through smart brand strategy, intentional design, and memorable marketing, AO helps companies tell their stories and deliver connected experiences to their customers. Let's chat!
