Know yourself
This is a first of a 4 part series on “Keys to Building Your Brand”. I will follow-up with posts on; “Knowing Your Audience”, Know Your Competition,” And “What Makes You Unique”
There are no “Magic” pills
At least none I’ve found and I am absolutely certain there isn’t one for marketing or building a brand. If I do find it, I’ll let you know, well maybe I won’t, but there are some key elements to building a brand. Whether you are a small “mom & pop” or a start-up with some money to blow, there are some key elements to building a strong brand presence.
First: Know yourself; take the time to examine who you really are as a company and who you really want to be. Until your picture of what you want your company’s brand presence to be is completely painted, you’ll have a hard time making it come to life. It is important that you think through the entire perception of your brand and work on making it reality.
Why is this important?
The reality is the perceptions of your customer is going to be built completely around the strength of your brand and the stronger and broader your brand the more complete the perception. Once the audience gains a perspective it’s hard to change it.
Example: You go out to dinner to a restaurant you’ve never ate at before and the food is terrible and the service less than desirable, even though that poor meal might have been the only bad meal they’ve ever served and it was the waiters very first night, your perception will most likely be that the restaurant isn’t that great, and you probably won’t go there again for a while. In fact you are probably going to tell people about your bad experience there. That establishment would now have a pretty difficult time changing your perspective and more than likely from here on out when you hear someone mention that restaurant you are going to instantly call back your perception of that place.
So perception is key in building the right brand. Once it is set in your customer or potential customer’s mind, it’s hard to change.
Perception is such a huge thing with a company’s branding, just uttering certain brand names creates an instant perception. If you say the word Volvo, you are immediately thinking safety, Harley-Davidson; you think Motorcycle and even hear a distinct sound in your mind. What comes to your customers minds?
I’d like to give you a quick branding quiz
- Name a brand of blue Jeans (think of answer now.)
- Name a brand of laundry detergent. (answer now.)
- Name a brand of soft drink. (answer now.)
(see end of post for my answers)
As you’ve looked at my answers I am probably correct with at least 80% of you. That’s because these companies have built a strong brand awareness and perception.
Fact: Every marketer who has achieved a high level of success first had to develop a recognizable brand. They’ve created that TOMA - Top of Mind Awareness. They developed their product or service to the point that it’s on the top of the consumer’s mind when they are ready to make a purchase or transaction. TOMA sometimes doesn’t come into effect for some time. There is the factor of when do you go shopping for a refrigerator? When you need one. When it does break down and you are ready to shop for one, what appliance stores come to mind, who has your TOMA? Do you have the Top of Mind Awareness of your customers?
TOMA is built through consistency over time. It’s about defining a marketing strategy and budget and consistently implementing that strategy over time. The good news is, even the big companies at one time were a small idea in one person’s mind, but over time with consistency they’ve built that brand recognition.
A brand is more than a logo or something burned into cowhide it is a complete package of tangible and intangible elements. Here are some of the key elements of the Brand;
- Logo
- Typeface
- Colors
- Characters
- Positioning statements / Slogans
- Intangible Assets (quality, service, performance)
- Tangible Assets (products, Services)
All of these elements factor into the overall brand presence of your company. Its the combination of these elements that create a brand, its more than image, or a feeling.
Here is a great exercise to help you “know yourself” better. Create a one page resume for your company as if it was an individual applying for a job, includes experience, education, accomplishments and references. This exercise gets the picture you have in your mind on paper and helps cement the ideas and objectives. You can take this same process for developing a short overview of what you want your customers to feel, think and perceive about your company.
(answers to marketing quiz )
Here is what I predicted you would answer
- Levi’s
- Tide
- Coke