You need a strong, distinctive brand to keep your business thriving. Your brand shows: Show
This resource provides practical guidelines to establish a new brand or improve an existing brand. On this pageWhat is a business brandA brand is much more than a name, logo and tagline. It's what comes to mind when existing and potential customers think of you. It answers the question: What do you want to be known for? Your brand includes:
A brand is made up of 2 elements:
Your brand represents the sum total of the experience. Defining brand'A brand is simply a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer.' Paul Feldwick Principles of a strong brandYour brand is the external expression of your internal culture. To be credible, your actions must match your words. That's why your brand is shaped by every employee and every action. A strong brand is unique and relevant. It will enable you to:
Consider your favourite brandsThink about your own personal experiences: we're all customers and we all have our favourite brands. Reflect on why these are your favourite brands. This may give you some valuable clues about what sets brands apart. Business and personal brandWhether or not you intend to, you have a personal brand. For many businesses, the face of the brand is the founder, owner or leader. It's important that there's a natural and logical association between your business and personal brand. Your personal brand:
The same principles of a strong business brand also apply to a personal brand. You should also:
Do an internet search on 'building a personal brand' to find more ideas and inspiration for your brand. Ask yourself...
Do a brand auditIf you have an existing brand, you can do a brand health check. By taking a step back and looking at the big picture, you can learn a lot about your brand and your customers. The brand audit evaluates your:
It's a way to see how the brand you intend to project matches with the brand you are, in fact, projecting. You can complete a brand audit within your existing team or hire a marketing agency to provide an external perspective. The following 3-step review process can guide the brand audit. You might do a brand audit:
By understanding what you are trying to achieve, you'll have a clearer view of what framework to use and where to focus your efforts. Depending on your resources, you can evaluate your brand by:
Based on your audit goals and outputs, the next steps are to:
Also, remember that the key findings from your brand audit will most likely influence your business plan and marketing strategy. Share the results of the brand audit with your employees. Marketing collateral review templatePrint out all the marketing collateral you've used over the past year (e.g. from your website to business cards) and display it on a wall. Ask yourself:
To make this easier, you can use our template for reviewing marketing collateral. Develop your business brandTo become distinctive, your business brand must be:
To be as effective as possible, work on all 3 these factors. For example, if you make potential customers aware of your brand, also make sure they understand what you do or how you can help. You want to find and show your brand truth. This is the position you want to hold in the minds of your target customers. You can use this 3-step brand development process as a guide. This step is an internal and external review of your current business status to help identify future opportunities. For this stage, explore the 3 Cs of your brand, namely your:
You can base this on internal and external sources, including:
You can now use this analysis to shape your ideal brand positioning. The goal of this step is to develop a practical and useful plan—like a blueprint—that clearly summarises your business brand and shows the way forward. It's worthwhile discussing your brand blueprint with your staff, or even running a workshop to get feedback and ideas. Look at different brand examples and then consider these things for your business:
This is a long-term brand blueprint that acts as your behind-the-scenes toolkit. It's a way to evaluate your actions and prompt new initiatives. It's how people choose brands—not by what they do, but why they exist. Based on your brand strategy, you need to establish your brand identity, including your name and logo. Whether this is an existing or new brand, the information below can help you bring your brand to life. One-page brand strategy templateWriting down your brand strategy will help you to:
Use this template to guide your brand strategy. This step is about developing powerful, professional and consistent branding that appeals to your target customers. Brand consistencyWhat your brand 'says' and 'does' should be the same. Customers are put off when a brand over-promises and under-delivers. You need to consider how your brand is reflected in every aspect of your business. Incorporate these 3 streams of ongoing work into your action plan:
Take a long-term approach to building your business brand. Brand identityYour brand identity is the external presentation of your brand. This identity appeals to the senses. It's what your customers see, hear, touch and even smell. It's mostly physical. It consists of elements such as your:
By adding strong brand 'codes' (like your business name, look, jingle or even a character) to these elements of your brand identity, you can increase the likelihood that customers will:
If you're setting up a new business (or if you need to rebrand), you'll need to develop your brand identity. Start by creating or updating your name and logo. Make them:
Consider a specialistIt may be tempting to try to create a brand identity yourself to save money. However, unless you have the expertise, you'll most likely benefit from working with external partners. A brand consultant or graphic designer could help turn your vision into reality. Always seek legal advice about intellectual property, including patents and trademarks. Find out how to register a new business name. Brand guidelinesOnce you've developed your brand identity, you document the rules around how to use your brand assets in a style guide. This helps to ensure your brand assets are presented in a consistent and cohesive way across all your internal and external touchpoints. To make this easier, keep a checklist of your different channels, for example, your:
A quick internet search will provide plenty of examples of brand guidelines. If you're working with a brand consultant or graphic designer, include these guidelines in your brief. When you implement your marketing programs, ensure that your brand guidelines are followed in your advertising, direct marketing and online marketing. Remember the 3 CsYour brand strategy may remain in place for many years, but your brand delivery will require ongoing effort, initiatives and tracking. Ask these questions about what you are delivering:
If you have more than one brandConsider getting professional adviceIt may be worth engaging a specialist provider if your business has more than one brand. If your business incorporates more than one brand, you need to be clear about the:
The way your brands relate to each other, is commonly referred to as your brand architecture. It's like an organisational structure, but for brands instead of employees. In the long term, a strong brand architecture will help your business to:
To help you decide what brand architecture will work best for your business and your customers, you can follow these steps:
Brand architecture types range from 'branded house' to 'house of brands'. Between these extremes, there are combinations that could include sub-brands and endorsed brands (brands using the brand equity of the parent brand).
For most businesses, the business name is the brand name. That's why the branded house is the most used model. When marketing on a small budget, it's best to have one brand, one strategy and one budget.
Which of the following is the best definition of branding?Branding is the process of creating a strong, positive perception of a company, its products or services in the customer's mind by combining such elements as logo, design, mission statement, and a consistent theme throughout all marketing communications.
Which of the following is true with regard to store brands?Which of the following is true with regard to store brands? Store brands are created and owned by resellers of a product or service. Some companies obtain the rights to use the names or symbols previously created by other manufacturers for a fee.
Are short phrases that capture the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand positioning and ensure that the company's own employees understand what the brand represents?A brand mantra is an articulation of the ''heart and soul'' of the brand. Specifically, brand mantras are short, three- to five-word phrases that capture the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand posi- tioning.
Which of the following is characterized as product associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands?Points-of-parity (POPs) – Associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may be shared by other brands i.e. where you can at least match the competitors claimed best. While POPs may usually not be the reason to choose a brand, their absence can certainly be a reason to drop a brand.
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