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DESIGN & BUSINESS

Small Biz, Big Buzz (cont.)

Although simple definitions of complex subjects can sometime’s miss the point—put in the simplest terms, branding is about staying ahead of your competitors. There has been more research, resulting in more detailed theories, resulting in more literature on the subject of branding in the past decade than the typical business owner has the time or desire to keep up with. Today there are large national and international agencies that are making their fortunes as branding experts—”Marketing is dead, it’s all about branding”, they say. The good news is that small and medium sized business’ can benefit from all this noise without spending the kind of money and man hours that a major corporation expends, and a lot of it is going to seem like common sense. The other good news is that it is true that branding can bring success to any size business.

Regardless of it’s use in today’s business world the word ‘brand’ has always meant “to make an indelible mark”, “to form an impression” And that’s what branding does—it makes an impression on your customers or clients. Left to itself your business will more than likely form an impression on your customers without any outside assistance—but will it be a positive impression? It is your job to make certain that it is. In addition to being about staying ahead of the competition; branding is also about reputation.

Branding will create attributes that your customers will recall when they think about your business, or hear it’s name, or see it’s logo. Don’t confuse it with advertising alone, it’s about much more that slapping a logo on a product and placing ads to promote it. It’s how you make customers consider your business. It’s how you present yourself. It’s everything from your graphic identity, to how you treat your customers, to the fact that your company vehicles are always clean. It’s the things that you do to differentiate you from your competitors—in an attractive, meaningful and compelling manner. It’s your opportunity to stand out from your competitors, to insure your business has a positive reputation in the mind of the consumer.

There are a lot of excellent resources available that explain branding in much more detail. One of our favorite brief descriptions can be found in Re-Imagine! by Tom Peters, arguably the biggest and most demonstrative proponent of the concept and process of creating brands.

Real Branding is…

Personal
About Integrity
Offers Consistency and Freshness
Memorable
A Great Story
Able to turn on the Checkout Clerk as much as the Consumer
Matters (To employees, customers, suppliers.)
Answers WHO ARE WE?
Available to One and All…Large and Small
Centers on Uniqueness and Dramatic Difference
Clarifies One Great Thing
About Passion and Emotion
About Why We Get out of Bed in the Morning
Can’t be faked
Systemic, 24/7, All-departments, All-hands Affair