What is Your Brand Essence

I’m working on a branding project for a client of mine, that has led me to spend time on the phone with the company’s executives, partners and customers to delve into the secrets that underlie the company’s brand. So this blog post is once again on the topic of branding.

 

You’ve heard me say that a company’s brand is not defined by the product you make or the market you are in, but rather by the collective behaviour and personality of the company. To use branding language, your brand is defined by intangible qualities associated with your company and/or your services/products. To apply some more extensive criteria to the definition of brand, a strong brand should (no must be):

 

1. Unique
2. Relevant
3. Honest
4. Consistent
5. Longlasting

 

Your brand should be defined by your uniqueness. What defines your business in terms of the competition? (hint - don’t think product feature – remember this must be intangible). What is the one thing you do that trumps the competition every time? If you can put your finger on that, you have likely identified what it is that makes you unique.

 

It’s one thing for a company to claim quality as an intangible brand characteristic, but if the product continuously breaks, or the service is poor, then it is an untrue claim. The brand characteristics you identify must be honest and true, and hold up to the scrutiny of partners, customers and employees.

 

If you portray inconsistent message or image across your various communications channels, then you have fragmented and garbled your brand message. It’s ok to evolve, but avoid changing your logo and tagline as often as you change your socks. Consistency on all fronts is key to brand resonance.

 

Maytag knows a good thing. The Maytag repairman, the symbol for reliability – the company’s brand essence – is into his 40th year of service. Ivory Snow has stood for purity for more than 100 years. Branding your company and product requires long term thinking and sticktoit-ivness.

 

So I’ll leave you with this exercise. Think about what your company and/or product stands for. What do you do better in an intangible way than any of your competitors. Are you more reliable? Are you more simple? More innovative? Is your service above reproach? These are the clues to your brand essence. Now use this and express your brand in six words. Now do it in two words. And here’s a crazy notion – try it on yourself to establish your personal brand.

 

For all my start up clients, found this really good blog on marketing basics for new companies. Some very good advice & very reflective of the work we do together:

 

http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/9008/Startup-Marketing-Tactical-Tips-From-The-Trenches.aspx

 

 

 

Service Makes the Brand

After more than two years of running my consulting business off a spreadsheet, I decided to get with the times and recently adopted Freshbooks a Cloud-based estimation and invoicing system. Cool tool, I am quite loving its ease of use. But even cooler is the service I’ve received since becoming a customer. My experience with Freshbooks has served to reinforce my personal philosophy as a marketing consultant that if you thrill and delight your customer, your customer service becomes a basis for competitive differentiation and the foundation for a strong and enduring brand image and reputation.

Freshbooks ‘gets’ the audience they serve – the creative small business owner, with limited resources, limited time, and limited patience. Support has been quick and accurate. I’ve had a welcoming email, and phone call offering a helping hand anytime I need it. And they even sent me a t-shirt, accompanied by a personal hand written note. Let me say now, that these things matter. Customers appreciate, and will remember great over the top service. And they’ll not only give you their loyalty, they will tell others about you, and gladly serve as a reference for your business in the future.

Make great customer service one of your governing principles. Trust me, your business will flourish as a result.

An Inside Job - Building an Effective Brand Starts from Within

Great advice once given to me that has stayed with me for many years.  At the time, my company was considering changing its name, and I reached out to a branding guru to ask his advice.  His response:  "if you are a lousy person, and change your name - you remain a lousy person. The same holds true for a company - if you are seeking to change your brand, focus on better management of your reputation and personality.  What you call yourself, or look like is just icing on the cake."

To sum up his advice, branding is not simply about look and feel, logos and typography. To successfully build a brand with longevity, companies must understand that a brand is about action, personality and a customer’s experience with a company, individual, or industry. Transforming your company's brand reputation will not be achieved solely through the creation and display of a logo or the insertion of advertisements in magazines and newspapers. It is about the way your CEO leads; the customer service you deliver; the way you react when something goes terribly wrong; and the way your employees behave and interact every day.

For my creative friends, I don't mean to diminish the role of great design in constructing a brand image.  A strong corporate identity can set the tone for your business and provide customers with an instant feeling/reaction that is then translated into a brand perception.  Great advertising and media placement can be important reinforcement of your brand with external audiences.  But if the inside of the organization is not fixed; if your culture is poisoned; your customer service stinks; and your CEO fosters internal politics -- well then, you remain just that -- lousy.