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Branding InformationBranding: It's more than a logo
by:
Julie Chance
Branding: It’s more than a logo
By Julie Chance
How clean is your pictures in the minds of your potential customers? How can you bring that pictures into focus? Defining, developing and maintaining a brand identity is the key.
The word “branding” is oft tossed simply about in the marketing and advertising earth by marketing professionals and customers alike. Many a times, what is being referred to as disapproval can be more accurately delineate as trademark
development or corporate identity programs at best. Patch a trademark
and corporate identity for certain are part of a disapproval program, they are only one piece of the puzzle. And once
companies start their disapproval program with development of a trademark
or corporate identity package, they are deed the cart before the horse.
So what exactly is branding? In doing research for this article, I came to the conclusion that disapproval is really more like what has been aforementioned simply about pornography: “I can’t define it, but I cognize it once
I see it.”
I define a brand pictures as being the image that appears in a member of your target market’s mind once
they see, hear or think simply about you, your institution and your service. In this sense, your trademark
and print materials become the symbols representing everything you and your service stand for, more like the letters of the alphabet are symbols that once
combined form words and sentences with a common meaning to everyone who understands the language.
We often think of disapproval as being thing
that only big corporations must attend to. However, a strong disapproval program is as critical to smaller businesses as it is to Fortune 500 companies. And smaller businesses are challenged with building our brands without the mega resources of the brobdingnagian corporations. So how can a business with limited resources, develop an effective brand image? Here is a step by step manual to steer you through the process.
Step 1: Define your desired brand image. What is the image you want your target market to develop in their minds once
they see, hear or think simply about you, your institution and your service? The more clearly you can see the pictures the better able you are to communicate it to your prospective clients. Start to define your brand by responsive
these questions in writing:
•What do we stand for?
•What are we aflame about?
•How are we several from different businesses that provide the same or similar products or services?
•What are our strengths?
•What is our specialty?
•What are our values?
•What do our clients most value simply about what we provide?
•What are we trying to accomplish?
•What problems do we help our clients solve?
•What do we want to be best-known for?
•Do we have any “quirks” that we can incorporate into our brand image?
Step 2: Develop your logo. Only once
you have the image clearly in your own mind that you want your target market to have of you is it time to begin the process of trademark
development. And this is an area to invest in several professional help. Don’t use a clip art trademark
or down-load a free trademark
from the web. Responsive
the questions above in detail wish do the trademark
development process not only more effective, but as well more efficient from a cost perspective.
In developing your trademark
and designing your print materials, think simply about what lines, shapes, typestyles and colors represent the pictures you want your target market to develop. If you coach folk in developing the leadership skills necessary to reach the executive suite, you probably don’t want to use primary colors in your logo. On the different hand, if you help folk bring more joy into their lives by discovering their inner child, primary colors may be perfect. If you assist folk to organize their lives, you would-be not want a untidy
business card. You would-be want a really clean and tasteful look. If you help folk bring out their hidden ability you could use a fancier, more elaborate typestyle and incorporate flowing lines or curled queues into the design.
Step 3: Begin act your brand identity to your target market. Everything you say and do -- from the way you answer your telephones to the specialty advertising or promotional items you give your prospective clients – should reinforce the brand pictures you want to develop. Use your trademark
and colors on everything. Develop a tag line that conveys your message and use it on all your written
materials from your letter paper
to your invoices. Your website should have the same general look as your letterhead, business cards, e-mail newsletter, brochure, and direct mail pieces. Ceaselessly look for route to incorporate your logo, colors and tag line into everything. Be creative. I cognize business partners who driving bright yellow Volkswagen Rock group
to match their corporate colors. All but daily I find an possibility I’ve been missing to incorporate my brand pictures into my materials – and I do this for a living!
Step 4: Maintain your brand identity. Once you have begun to develop your brand identity, resist the temptation to do major changes or to even as do too more tinkering. Just simply about the time you start to become bored with your look, your target market is simply beginning to recognize and identify with it. Consistency over time is critical. Not only makes it build awareness, it as well develops credibility. In this respect we need to discover from the masters. Patch Coca Cola® and Betty Crocker® have updated their looks many a times over the past 100+ years the basic elements have remained consistent.
What image develops in the mind of your target market once
they see, hear or think simply about you and your service? Is it fuzzy and out of focus with pieces of the puzzle missing? Is it inconsistent and ever changing? Or is it crisp, clean and in living color?
© 2004 STRATEGIES-BY-DESIGN. May be reprinted with credits and contact information.
Just simply about the Author
Julie Chance is a strategic marketing advisor who provides a unique combination of consulting, employment and training to help clients improve the return on their investment in marketing and promotional activities. For more information call 972-701-9311 or visit our website at www.strategies-by-design.com. Be sure to sign up for our free account and take our assessment to determine the strength of your marketing foundation patch you’re there.
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