It has been said that the most valuable assets a company owns is a well-known and trusted brand. Some surveys show that almost 60% of consumers prefer to purchase products from familiar brands. No matter the size of your business, it is vital that you create a solid brand so that you stand out from your competitors.
Brand building involves more than simply creating a logo and spending some money on advertising and hoping for the best. Your brand needs to encapsulate the why, how and what of your business and to reflect your ideal customer’s positive perception of your business. In essence, a brand reflects the good reputation of your business among your potential customers.
A successful brand will communicate the values of your business in a consistent way. This can include through its office; signage stationery and other print collateral; website and online presence; sales and customer service experience; and how employees are valued within the business. Clearly, a brand cannot be built overnight and takes some effort to get the message out there. However, with the right strategy, brand building will establish a long-lasting relationship with your customers that will pay significant dividends over the longer term.
At its simplest, brand building is the process of generating awareness about your business with the goal of creating an image in the marketplace that reflects the value of the services or products that your business provides. Part of this is having a positive image associated with your brand and making sure that it stands out from your competitors. This can be broken down into three elements: strategy, identity and marketing.
A brand strategy will define how your business is different from your competition, why it is trustworthy and, ideally why it should get a positive response from your customer and be memorable. It conveys the purpose of your business, the problem you solve and the promise you make to your customers to meet their needs. A brand identity refers to the way that you communicate your brand to the public. It can include visual elements, messaging and your experience. How you present your identity will be influenced by your overall brand strategy so that they align for maximum impacts. Brand marketing reflects the way that you communicate and highlight your products and services in the marketplace. This should be done by communicating your values and goals to the desired audience through appropriate communication channels for that audience.