The Ever-Present Brand
Whether you’re in startup mode or have been in business for a while, your focus has likely been on developing your products and services. You probably have also designed a logo and a website and joined social networks. But how much time have you spent planning and promoting your brand message? Even if you have not developed your brand strategy, whenever you interact with customers, you represent a brand. It is there for your customers to experience in all of its elements – good, bad, or ugly.
Your brand is not just your products and services.
Products and services are pieces of a mosaic. They are colorful and creative, but without the grout that surrounds the pieces, they fall out of place and no longer make a pleasing design. The brand is the grout that keeps your business offerings in the intended format. All the pieces work together and have a place to make the picture that is your company.
Your brand is not your logo.
The design of your logo is another piece of the mosaic. It is the visual symbol of your organization. It can be creative and unique, giving awareness and recognition to your company, but it cannot reflect the entire picture – all the values of your company.
Your brand is the customer’s total experience.
It’s the first impression gut-feeling when the customer first interacts with your organization. It’s the staff’s greeting, appearance, your message or music on the telephone, and ease of navigating your website, and that’s all before a sale is even made. The brand is the total company’s message and how it is perceived to meet the customer’s needs and desires. It’s a consistent message reinforced in all aspects of the company, its media, and its staff. The goal is for the experience to be more than your customer expected.
Your brand promotes emotional ties and strong customer reactions.
Whether it’s a feeling of safety and luxury in a Mercedes Benz ad or melt-in-your-mouth pleasure of Godiva Chocolate, the branding creates a desire for that product. This can be done in creative, stimulating marketing, and also with the entire customer experience when dealing with your organization. The emotions need to tie to the product or service like a feeling of warmth, pampering, and relaxation at a spa, or honest and well-trained professionals at a body shop.
Your brand is a promise.
People expect a product or service to be good – otherwise why start a business? But vague messages don’t work. “The best burger in town” phrase has already been used by the competition. The brand message should be specific, engaging, and presented in a way to show a benefit to the target market. It is an implied promise that you want to be the best choice for your customers. They will be happy, they will return for more, and they will spread the word.
Your brand is an investment.
It is the time and money it took to create your business, the people who run it and how you market it. Your marketing plan should evolve from your brand strategy and not the other way around. The brand is always there. Use it wisely and without limits.
