Happy 2012!
It's time to start with a fresh new look and bright new strategies for your business.
How strong is your brand?
Branding is more than just a logo. ‘Branding’ is about how the market sees your business, not how you see it. It means deciding how you want to improve that perception and then being committed to it in all facets of your business. It is your company image, the name, logo, colors, overall look. That image needs to be pervasive in every touchpoint, from stationery, forms, literature, packaging, and signage, to advertising, direct mail, website and much more. Even more importantly, it is about the personality of the company. To establish this you need to be able to define why someone should buy from your company rather than company XYZ.
Guts first, lovely exterior second. Before you set your designer to creating, work with your branding team on the elevator speech, the positioning points. All these components must come first. They will be the building blocks for your look-and-feel.
Edit ruthlessly. Substantive and compelling content is key. Try to say less, not more, and be direct! You are competing with millions of other messages your audience is bombarded with every day.
Acknowledge your brand equity. Make sure you’re taking your existing customers into account when you’re planning your branding effort. Assess what you stand for, in their eyes; never forget that your brand doesn’t belong to you…it’s their perception of you. Evaluate that perception, and try to retain the best attributes, but don't let it stifle growth.
Get management on board. Management has to be engaged and part of the buy-in on your brand message. He or she is the only one who can guarantee alignment on a brand, and on everything behind it – the positioning and key messages for the brand identity.
Step out of your cushy box. “Our ideas, like orange-plants, spread out in proportion to the size of the box which imprisons the roots. ” (Edward Bulwer Lytton) If you’re not seeing brand design explorations that give you pause, make you question their boldness or how far they go…then they’re probably not going far enough. Remember that any brand initiative worth anything is about cutting through the clutter in the category.
Follow Nike. Just do it. Now. Not tomorrow. You need to stand out to your buyers now more than ever. Find a team that can provide you with a good brand that delivers enduring appeal that won’t wear out, because it’s built from strong fundamentals about your business strengths.
