Your Brand
The term "branding" has become a media buzzword. In the process,
it has morphed into a fuzzy concept, referring to everything
from corporate
identity to logos to advertising
campaigns.
A
brand is the delivery on a promise - a predictable, reliable,
satisfying result that can be repeated every time the brand
is summoned. The dot.com experience proved that you cannot “buy
a brand”. A “brand” is not just a clever, memorable
name, lavishly supported by marketing budgets.
Brand identity is
basically what you want the consumer to think about your company,
and brand
image is what the consumer actually thinks about
your company.
Corporate
identity refers to how you project your identity
out into the world. It is concerned with the visual
aspects of a company's presence in terms of logo, design,
collaterals (name, color, typography, tagline, etc.).
Your Corporate identity needs to be infused into everything
that is viewed by the public. From design and selection of colours,
packaging, all the way down to the type of paper you use for
your letterhead. This includes your website which is an integral
part of your marketing strategy.
Website Content
Writing for the Web with an editorial
style gives your website
an aura of credibility -- often referred to as the "halo effect" --
this is part of your brand
image. When you wrap your advertising message within a good
editorial piece, you position yourself as an expert, gain the
trust of your audience, and increase the likelihood of a sale.
Brand Proposition and Positioning
To create credibility, you must have a crystal clear strategic
proposition and positioning of your corporate brand so that you
can develop a consistent dialogue with customers and guide your
customers at every stage of the buying process.
If it is consistent, relevant, and distinctive, a strong brand
will accomplish three things:
- Differentiation
- Customer preference
- Premium price
Bottom line, defining your brand means being clear about who
you are, where you want to go, how you're going to get there,
and with whom.
The Positioning Statement
The goal of the brand identity process is to write a positioning
statement, which explicitly situates your work vis-à-vis
your audiences and other offerings in the marketplace. The final
statement may be brief (one or two sentences), but it results
from substantial research and reflection.
In order to write the positioning statement, you need to understand
four things about your work: 1) what you do, 2) who your target
audience is, 3) who your competition is, and 4) how audiences
benefit from your work.
What you do. First, revisit what it is exactly
that you offer to the world. What is your core essence? Think
about what you believe in, and what you stand for. Consider the
visionary qualities of your enterprise.
Target audience. A positioning statement focuses
on your customers. If you expect them to spend time and
money, you've got to be able
to articulate why they would want to — from their points
of view. In other words, how is your work relevant to their lives?
So your second step is to ask yourself: who are your intended
audiences? Which are core, which occasional, and which peripheral?
Why are you aiming to sell each of them on your work? And how
will you go about doing so?
Competition. Third, take a long, cold look
at all your competition. Who directly competes with you for your
customers' time and money? Who are your indirect competitors?
Compile a profile of each competitors' offerings: what are they
offering, and to whom? How are their offerings similar to yours,
and how are they unique? Only by understanding your competition
can you recognize and capitalize on the unique value of your
own work. And then you can position your company where it is
most effectively appealing to your potential audiences.
Benefits. Finally, make a list of the benefits
of your work to your customers — from their perspectives.
And be careful not to confuse features with benefits. Features
are the defining elements of your work—world-class developers,
for example. Benefits are the tangible
or intangible ways that audiences gain from experiencing those
features. In other words, how will customers benefit from your
services?
Make your positioning statement concise enough to explain in
a short elevator ride. This "elevator pitch" should
be comprehensible to anyone who's never seen your company. So
delete from the positioning statement any world jargon
or industry shorthand.
Once you have written a branding identity, you can proceed to
designing an image and campaign that will communicate your uniqueness
to your target audiences. Name, logo, color, typography—all
those elements, and more, can project your core essence to the
people who most matter to you. A strong brand image, if delivered
consistently, will give your message high visibility and staying
power. All that's left, then, is to deliver on the promise.
Contact us today for online marketing advice, information and prices.
|
