More and more in the popular media, the term branding is being introduced into the business psyche of the watching/listening audience. The understanding that your brand is NOT just your logo, is still the number one misunderstanding of businesses and organizations that I meet. When you understand that your brand is essentially your reputation, then you will understand that “re-branding” your business with a logo change is simply “putting lipstick on a pig.” Put another way: Let us say that you don’t like Pepsi. If I change the logo and slogan, are you going to like it now? No, of course, not. You have to fundamentally change the way Pepsi does things, and here it is changing the taste. Then they have a chance of getting you to switch. Your brand is no different.
Wouldn’t you love to understand how you could make your brand more powerful? If you could find a way to make your brand a leader, you’d be interested right? What if I told you that strategically positioning your brand with a compelling offer, REMOVES you from commodity hell – wouldn’t that intrigue you? The answers to all these questions are no-brainers.
The fact that you should draw comfort in, is that most – I’ll say that again – MOST businesses, communities, and people (brands) completely ignore their brands. This short-sightedness is your ace in the hole. Even if you were to tweak your brand a little bit, you’d be miles ahead of the other person.
I recently gave a lecture to a packed house (and more on the waiting list) to the Center for Business, Advancement, and Research in Windsor Ontario. It was a one half hour discussion on “Branding Yourself Online.” I was very well received. So much so, that a line following the event formed in front of me and took 1-1/2 hours to clear. But, the simple truth is, MOST of these well-meaning entrepreneurs will do absolutely nothing about their lack lustre, follow the leader brands.
Take place branding – how many communities in your area could use a boost in their economic development portfolios? How many would love to be considered first choice for convention business? (more no-brainer questions). BUT, most would rather ignore their brands and turn direct their priority to changing logos and tag lines. Instead of analysis of why their brands are attracting negative attention and fixing the problem, city fathers again and again opt for short-term, same old, same old strategies creating the perception of doing something. The fact will remain that when the audience reacts negatively to your community brand, it’s too late. The same holds true in business branding. In both cases, it becomes a commodity issue. You have to buy their business. You’ll have no staying power. Their business moves from price to price. No powerful relationship to retain them.
If you want to stand out and play a different game, you might want to get in on Texas Brand’em and leave 52 Pick-up to the amateurs.
Here’s your winning hand, in a game of Texas Brand’em:
CARD ONE: Establish you brand values and personality, as the foundation of your brand.
CARD TWO: Establish your brand message. What is it you do that your customers value the most.
CARD THREE: Have a positioning strategy that compels your audience. Establishes you as a leader not a follower.
CARD FOUR: Make sure that your brand image is consistent with your values and personality and is consistent across all materials.
CARD FIVE: Live the brand, it has to be authentic. Build relationships with integrity.
Business is a high stakes game. Picking up the hand above ends the temptation to bluff your opponent. They’ll have no option other than folding.
Spot on, Ed! You can’t put lipstick on the pig by simply changing external stuff. Once you understand that a brand starts with your promise it’s easy to brand your business. A good example is Melting Pot restaurants. Their missionis to provide guests with the chance to escape, create memories, and pursue their dreams. Their brand promise is a Perfect Night Out. Now that’s a great brand.
Now all the Melting Pot has to do is deliver on that promise for their brand to be memorable. Even better for them would be to over-deliver.
Brand is not a logo, brand is how customer’s perceive your company. The logo may jog their memory and symbolize the brand but it in itself is not the brand.
We can’t say it enough BL.
I can say with full certainty, that your logo becomes a brand when people begin to talk about your business
When people begin to talk, your logo becomes the face of your brand. It is what they identify with your brand. As your brand power grows, as in Apple – your icon (if your logo has one) is all that is needed to identify you.
What your brand stands for is what gets you business or not.
This reminds me of when my friends company put their logo on the back of playing cards. The company produced some male orientated products and got a good branding effect from this. Every customer received a deck of playing cards – costly, but it worked.
This is an excellent explanation of the importance of branding – it really is so much more, and takes more than people often think. I like how you said that even small changes to develop your brand can put you ahead of others as most businesses are doing nothing for their brands. When it comes to branding I think it is essential to make sure that you have all your bases covered and are consistent in the message you are presenting. I’ve been trying to tighten my image by making sure there is no room for mistakes and that everything runs smoothly, leaving no room for customer frustration – I’ve discovered a great way to do this when it comes to printing my materials, having an online portal that everyone who is involved can access, it leaves less room for problems (I get this service from http://www.digitallizard.com/small-medium-business.php)
Tom, it’s nice to see that on old idea still works today. There was a time when lots of companies got custom printed playing cards.
Wilfred, that service you use gives your customers access to their projects on their schedule. Definitely great for your brand service.
Thanks for your comments, guys.
They say perception is everything and I agree. You’ve done a great job of really defining “brand”. Many businesses would be wise to take the time to understand exactly how their “brand” is perceived. If it’s not what they’ve been marketing than there is a real clear direction to move towards.
FFT, your last line is a great tip for anyone reading here – thanks for contributing.
This reminds me of the Chinese auto industry where they think blatatnty copying American, European and Japanese cars, ideas, etc. then reducing the quality is going to fool people into buying in. Yeah, they may buy the first time but the companies have managed to alienate any potenial repeat customers. I agree with FFT, these companies should spend less money on general marketing and more on WHO they’re marketing to and how they look doing it.