So many businesses around us pay very little attention to their brands. Some are under the illusion that to have a brand is a question of choice. As some have said to me, “Ed, I’m not ready for a brand just yet. I’ll let you know when I am.” What they fail to understand is that they have a brand, whether they want one of not. From the very first hour a person decides to put out their shingle, their brand also begins its journey. In straight terms a brand could be replaced by the word – reputation. Everything that your brand touches and everything that touches your brand affects it. Some allow their brands to grow and morph on its own – in other words do nothing and ignore their brand. Failing to define your brand leaves one uncomfortable reality – it allows your competition to define it for you. Once that happens it is very expensive to claw it back and change the negative perception of your marketplace. This is critically true if your competition is perceived to be the leader in your category.
Are you allowing your brand the freedom to flourish? Without a strategy in place, your brand is not properly positioned to take the high ground. To be the leader it rightfully deserves you have to takes steps to cut your brand free. Look for the restrained brand behind barriers such as:
• Weak uninspiring slogans
• Tired or unprofessional logos
• No brand values to speak of
• Multiple logos
• No local profile
• Just like everybody else marketing
• Uninspired sales staff
• Off brand employees
• Drowning in the sea of sameness
• You’re competing on price
To breadth fresh life into your tired brand, you have to get out there on-line and off. Make your presence known. Start building your expert profile. It’s time to come out from behind the mediocrity. It can’t be business as usual anymore. As the head of your brand you have to start showing your passion and spreading it among all stakeholders which include clients, employees and suppliers. Your positive attitude would be a terrific start. Nothing motivates a brand better than a passionate leader. People take notice and look for cues to react. There is nothing more satisfying than having your leads react the way you intended. When stakeholders get the message and deliver their business to your doorstep, your brand has succeeded in leaping the hurdles.
The one important message here is that once the brand strategy is in place, you have to continually nurture it. It can’t be allowed to grow on its own, it has to be guided. Getting it right is key to your brand’s success. There is no easy strategy, it has to be constant, consistent and contagious.
Can you define what an “off-brand employee” is? I’m not sure I know what you mean by that… nor how to fix it.
@addresstwo An off-brand employee is one who has not been properly versed in what the brand stands for, what values they are expected to live up to and to make sure everyone is singing from the same song sheet. Typically, the fact that they are off-brand is no fault of their own but management not doing their part to educate. You fix it by educating and having open channels of communication.
@Ed Roach That’s what I thought it meant, but wanted to be sure. Thanks for the reply. I think in really small companies, the problem is that the employees sometimes are the brand. We have 3 guys including myself. People talk as much about doing business with AddressTwo as they do doing business with “Chad” or “Nick.” Is that a bad thing? Does it represent that we haven’t done enough to get our company’s brand out there?
Nick Carter
President, CEO, and Founder
http://www.addresstwo.com
@addresstwo With small companies like yours, I think that it would be preferable if all clients understand that they are doing business with AddressTwo. If they feel that it is just Chad, then you risk the feeling that they don’t need AddressTwo down the road. Chad walks with a chunk of business. The AddressTwo brand has to be the priority. Chad represents AddressTwo in everything he does. Same goes for everyone else including yourself. You are the visionary of your brand. Everyone is a brand champion or advocate.
I’d say without knowing much that your brand is weak in the eyes of your customers. They don’t identify with it as much as the person they deal with. As I alluded to – this can become dangerous.
Being Brand conscious in business is not bad but describing your brand is not easy! Good stuff nd mind you logo is not a brand.
@johnwayne It doesn’t have to be complicated JW. Once you discover your positioning strategy, it all flows from it. Your logo is the face of your brand.
I think, some business owners think that in their industries brand may not play a big role.. it is not true though, as brand and company’s name do stand for reputation and do occupy a certain place in a mind of a consumer.
@swot I absolutely agree with you SWOT. Thanks for commenting.
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@Hindustanmarkets What a lame way to promote yourself. Some people have no shame.
@Personal Items Great observation PI. Do you think their greed opened the door for other brands to gain dominance? It is sort of a cycle in some instances. They made lots of money in the short term, but it’s hard going back – if not impossible.
Sharing some ideas in business industry is really great. Thank you for having this one.
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To be successful, a brand needs to perform well both in the mind of consumers as well as in the market. The measurement and analysis of these two equity constituents establish the brand’s level of success. Further it provides insights to diagnose and prescribe follow-up action to improve either the desirability (mind) or the habitat success (market), or a combination of the two.
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With two billion active users and 130 million domains on the web, indexing the torrent of information is a challenge for large search engines and impossible for individuals. One way to distinguish your company or organization is to build a trusted brand within your niche. Press releases, done well, can play a role here.
Search engines have learned that brands are important to people making decisions in an information surplus environment and are seeking indicators of quality. Understanding how search engines judge and evaluate brands is imperative to building the trust that results in visibility.
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