Branding Your Business and Why You Must

Date: September 21, 2010 The Entrepreneur Meetup

Place: Bird of Paradise Pub

“Branding your business and why you must”

Presented by : MiniAD Interactive

778-433-1872

How to brand your business and why you must!

If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ve heard and read a lot about branding. But how does it apply to your business?

Branding is the ongoing process of establishing, reinforcing, and meeting the expectations of your target audiences. First, you establish expectations with your brand identity – the name of your business, the look of your logo, the sound of your slogan, the personality of your business card. You reinforce those expectations with your external communications – your signage, advertising, public relations, and corporate presence in the community. And then you meet those expectations in the customer/client experience – your product and your customer service.

First, let me give you two examples of bad branding. You walk into a furniture store with high-quality furnishings, helpful and professional staff, and tasteful decor – then a few days later you see their cheesy-looking newspaper ad, with tacky clip art and bad type. That’s a great product... but bad branding. Your mind now has two conflicting impressions of the furniture store: exciting and tasteful versus cheap and tacky. In an effort to reconcile these two impressions and reduce ‘cognitive dissonance’, your subconscious mind will tell you that the store couldn’t have been as nice as you remembered. The brand is diminished.

Or you pick up a stunning brochure for a weekend getaway, full of elegant images and sumptuous colours. You arrive to discover a humble country-style bed and breakfast, charming in its own right, but not as grand or luxurious as you had anticipated. That’s a great product and great design... but bad branding. People looking for a charming B&B experience would not respond to the brochure; people looking for upscale luxury would respond and be disappointed. The brand is diminished.

In essence, you are making a promise to your target audience with everything you do and say. When you consistently meet the expectations you have established, and deliver on the brand promise you have made, you build customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat business. The brand thrives.

The fact is, branding is more than just the latest theory in marketing science. It is a process that can add dollar value to your business. The big brand names command a healthy premium over no-name generics, quite apart from the quality inside. People are willing to pay more, and pay more often, for a known and trusted brand, so let that known and trusted brand be yours.

Promise me anything, but keep that promise

The first step in building a strong brand for your business is deciding on your brand promise: what is it, exactly, that you are promising your customers?

Two restaurants might be equally successful in the same market with two very different brand promises: Micky’s Place promises fast and affordable family meals; Chez Pierre promises authentic French cuisine in an intimate setting. The food at Micky’s is kid-friendly, the decor is bright and lively, the service is quick, and the prices are low. There is no duck a l’orange at Micky’s Place. At Chez Pierre, the food is exquisite, the service is leisurely, the decor is elegant, and the prices are high. There are no crayons and paper placemats at Chez Pierre. The brand promise in each case is communicated through the choice of the name, the look of the premises, the attitude of the staff, the nature of the menu, and the look and feel of the advertising. And because the promise is consistently fulfilled in the dining experience, customers go away happy.

Generally, your brand promise should focus on what sets you apart from your competitors: a competitive advantage (for example, faster service, cheaper prices, or better quality products) or a specialization (for example, French cuisine, pizza, or sushi). If there are a dozen French restaurants in your market, that’s not specialized enough; now you must position yourself as the French restaurant that welcomes children, or the French restaurant with the lowest prices, or the French vegan restaurant (perish the thought).

To be effective, your brand promise must meet three criteria.

1. First, it must be relevant to your target audience. Market research – even an informal survey of your own customers – can give you priceless information about what people want, and what needs you can meet. If your product or service meets a real need, then your promise becomes relevant and meaningful.

2. Second, the brand promise must be believable. If you claim to have the lowest prices and also the highest quality product, no one will believe you. If you claim to do all things well, you’ll be perceived as a jack of all trades, master of none. Identify your strengths, and focus on what you do best.

3. Finally, the brand promise must be deliverable. In every customer experience, in every encounter with the brand that is your business, you must keep the promise you have made to your customers. A kept promise makes for happy customers, good word of mouth, repeat business, and high staff morale.

For a new business, the purpose of advertising is to let clients or customers know you exist, and to tell them what you are offering For an established business, there are other reasons to advertise: to grow and expand, to drive traffic to your website or store, to even out seasonal fluctuations in work load and cash flow, to nurture long-term prospects, to make your sales rep’s job easier, and to attract good employees and suppliers. But advertising can be expensive if you don’t do it right.

First, make sure you’re taking advantage of no-cost and low-cost promotional ideas: news releases, electronic bulletins or newsletters, viral marketing, and word of mouth referrals.

Then look at paid advertising, and decide which medium will be most effective in reaching your target audience. Don’t just hand your budget to the first persuasive media rep who walks in the door – there’s a science behind media planning: knowing the ideal reach and frequency of your advertising, the optimum size, colour, and placement of the ad, and the timing and duration of the campaign. A small ad in the right publication can yield much better results than a larger, more expensive ad in the wrong one.

When it comes to the look and feel of your ads, be noticeable, be understandable, and be consistent. When appropriate, use a ‘power’ word in the headline – for example: free, new, now, introducing, presenting, how to, save – to get the reader’s attention.

According to research, women are attracted to pictures of women, children, and animals. Men are drawn more strongly to pictures of men, cars, and tools. Make sure the image you use is relevant to the promise you’re making to your target audience.

If you use a picture of a scantily clad woman to sell wrenches, the ad will be noticed, but it will not motivate sales. If you use a picture of someone trying to change a tire with a broken wrench, the message is much more likely to have a lasting effect on your reader. Use only one or two font styles in your ad, and treat your logo with respect – not in the headline, but at the bottom of the ad, with a decent amount of space around it.

Above all, make your ads unique – so they will be noticed among the thousands of ad impressions your target audience is bombarded with every day; and uniquely yours – so they continue to build your brand.

Before

After

Which picture above conveys a more positive “branding” and what does it say to you?

Is branding important?

Branding is the primary source of competitive advantage for any company and should be considered your single-most valuable strategic asset. It is equally important in both business and consumer markets. Branding enables companies to activelyinfluence demand by encouraging consumersto base their purchase decisions on factorsother than price, location, colour, etc. It tellshow your product or service can contributeto their business and sets you apart fromyour competitors. Differentiation is the mostfundamental and significant concept in thecreation of powerful brands.

Is branding effective?

Do you want to add value and create demandfor your product offering? When you executea successful branding strategy you give yourcompany market power.

When customers specify or demand yourbrand, you become the preferred market

supplier. This earns you a competitiveadvantage by giving you leverage and

credibility to increase sales, improve marginsand expand into new markets.

Why should I buy from you?

It is one question every potential customerasks before obtaining your products or

services, and the most common questionbusiness owners cannot answer effectively.

Regardless of the industry, any business thatlacks proper brand direction will inevitably

end up conveying the same message to theircustomers as their competition.If you do not stand out from the pack, youleave it to customers to choose, and theywill base their decisions on generic factorsinstead of the strengths of your business.

ichael Perry

When you are selling your product or serviceyou need a unique identity - an appealing butdistinct idea that distinguishes you from yourcompetition and becomes the foundationfor all of your marketing. You need to bebranded!

How does branding work?

Branding begins with the development of acorporate identity, so that when a customer

thinks of a commodity, your company willbe positioned in their mind as the brand of

choice. Essentially, your corporate identityincludes all materials that you wish to have

associated with your business. All facets ofthe branding strategy aim to create positive

associations when customers hear or see yourbrand name. All related materials that are used formarketing, sales, and promotional purposesmust wear the same corporate identity tomaintain consistency and reinforce brandimage. If a customer is happy, they oftenbecome avid spokespeople for your company. However, they will also be the first to givenegative publicity if they are unhappy. Thisillustrates that a positive brand image isimperative for success.

“Branding is all about Trust. You buy a brand because you consider it a friend”

Why are you Unique?

The next step is to articulate your uniqueness.This will require careful copy writing and

editing to create a message that will resonatewith your clients. Your unique identity shouldappear in every aspect of your marketing; inthe headlines and copy of your brochures,advertisements, direct mail campaigns, inthe pitches your salespeople make, in yourpresentations and your website.

The criteria for a unique identitystatement are:

It must differentiate you from your competition

It must be meaningful to your customers and prospects because

it appeals to an important issue It must address a receptive audience

You must be able to articulate it in 30 seconds or less

It must be true

If you do not have a unique identity statementthat you can use in all of your marketing, setaside some time to work on it and commit tohaving one as soon as possible; if properlydeveloped it will provide benefits for the longterm.

How will branding benefit your company?

There are a multitude of reasons why abranding message that clearly defines and

communicates your products’ added-valuecan benefit your company.

A brief summary of branding benefits:

Increased sales and profit margins

Higher brand positioning in

prospect and customer minds

Improved credibility

Increased market share

Greater employee morale

New referrals generated by currentcustomer support

Product / service longevity

Investment in the development of your brandwill reward your business in numerous waysand provide your business with the basis tomove it to the next level.

Where is Branding Applied?

Branding is applied to all aspects of business;it is a critical component to a successful

business strategy. In order to promote yourproduct as the brand of choice, it is imperativeto develop a consistent and striking messagethat carries uniformly through all forms ofcommunications which can include:

Presentation materials

Corporate identity

Packaging

Sales support information

Stationery (letterhead, businesscards, envelopes)

Work place environment

Website

Marketing literature

Product leaflets

Trade show stands

Dealer / reseller sales literature

Power point, CD ROM, DVDpresentations

Marketing your product requires agility,flexibility, and creativity. Even the most

successful brands must constantly adapt tokeep up with cultural changes and shifting

preferences.

What are the most common branding mistakes?

Ignoring Branding

Traditionally, branding has been seen as aconsumer marketing discipline. Research has

shown that business purchase decisions aremore complex than previously thought, and

companies base their decisions on a varietyof factors. Business-to-Business companies

ignore branding at their own expense.

Concentrating on the wrong attributes

Communicating what customers feel isimportant. In technology markets, quality

of support and commitment to productdevelopment may outweigh price anddelivery. In commodity markets, support andinformation can differentiate products withno performance advantage.

Failing to communicate Brand Strength

Marketing communications that focus onlyon the product may fail to communicate

important brand strengths. Customerpresentations, corporate brochures, public

relations activities and corporate advertisingcan be used to present a more balanced

picture.

Inconsistancy

A lot of organizations attempt the do-ityourselfapproach and usually fail to clearly

communicate the branding message in ameaningful way. If you want your brand to

be given the optimum chance for success, itis prudent to retain the services of branding

professionals.

Failing to monitor Customers Perception

Tracking market research is critical. Youmust know how your customers perceive

you so that you can plan your brandcommunications. Tracking changes in

perception enables you to measure theeffectiveness of your communications and

adjust accordingly.

How can you use brand value?

Brand values are communicated throughmany different channels, not just advertising

and marketing media. Making sure that everyaspect of your business reflects the brand

values that are important to your customers is key.

Brand values are company and productattributes that are most important to your

customers and prospects and should beportrayed in your communication. If you have

branding that is weak, you should considerways of improving it.

Here are some of the business and productcomponents and attributes that may impact

brand values:

Fitness for purpose

Warranty/quality

Value for money/finance

Company reliability

Proven products

Investment in product

Development

Distribution

Customer base

Customized products

Partnership/consulting

Customer service

Technical support/training

Environment

Ordering procedures

Product information

Brand values relate to many areas, fromproduct attributes to less tangible aspects of

a company’s operations. It is important toidentify how your products and company are

perceived by different types of customers.

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