Brand Building 101

Building your brand into a brand leader isn't easy. There are 2 areas that can really help you grow your brand, passion and consistency. Passion is incredibly important. You have to understand that even if you are a start up or a one-man operation, or are well on your way, you are still a brand. You have to care passionately about the way your brand is nurtured, developed and presented to your target audience. Everything that leaves your building, every impression that your staff and your company make, is lasting. Take advantage of this opportunity to get your customers and potential customers to remember you in the way that you want them too!

Passion is something that you have to feel deep down inside; you have to be driven by the belief that your brand should be the #1 in its category. I can't give you the passion, but I will ask you to think about this! For example, one of the greatest investors of all time is Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet invests only in brands, or products that he really understands. He once wrote in one of his annual reports "A brand is like a moat around your business". This point is significant! A brand can protect you against competitive attacks, it can protect you from market fluctuations, it can protect you from having to get into a price war, and it can protect your premium price positioning. When all things are equal, consumers will usually buy the brand leader!

Consistency is probably the easiest part of the marketing communications to control, but frankly most companies fail in this area. What you should do is ensure that everything that comes out of your company looks like it should. Every piece of communication should be part of a "look" that you have agreed on. I really do not care what it is; it should always look like it's part of a family, part of an ongoing series of communications. There should be no difference. If it's a letter, they should all look the same. No different typefaces, different margins etc. This is an area that should not be a request in your company; it should be a mandate.

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Personal Branding: Characteristics of a Strong Personal Brand
How many times have you been at a networking function and been lost for words when asked "what do you do"?We all have. But do you see this as a threat or an opportunity?Developing a Personal Branding Statement or PBS can be a powerful way to help market yourself to prospects, clients or potential employers.
Profitable Partnering
Become your customers top-of-mind choice.Some of these snapshots of real life SmartPartnership success stories can be adapted to help your kind of business (or non-profit or government agency) thrive?1.
Self-Marketing: The I Focus
Ever had one of those conversations where you wondered what the topic was and the only word you could identify was "I"?As a marketer, I often recommend marketing yourself. However, there comes a point, rather quickly in any conversation when the other person tires of hearing "I".
I Hate My Logo! What You Should Get For Your Money and Why
This is not a how-to design a logo. This is a guide to educate you on how an experienced designer can help you through a project whose outcome you will need to live with for years.
Do What Works
"Can you hear me now?"You'd be hard pressed to find someone in the US who doesn't know the company behind that question.So why do big companies, like Verizon, hammer us with the same message over and over? Because it works.
Your Small Business Name -- Important?
You bet a name is important. Many small business owners try to come up with a clever name for their business rather than one that explains what they do.
Strategy and Tips for a Successful Logo Design
Visual processing is the most important way for gathering information for all human beings. A good design or graphics work is remembered for ages and that is what drives the multinational companies to spend millions of dollars on developing their logo and other branding material.
Branding Your Business To Make More Money
Branding your comapny should be the first thing a company does. You have to convince potential customers to buy from you.
Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry
Back to the era of the Hawaiian monarchy, the origin of Hawaiian heirloom jewelry can be found. The Hawaiian kingdom had long enjoyed a favorable relationship with England.
Brand and Market Your Business
In business exposure is everything and creating a unique image for your company is very important. Even with the anonymity of the web it is still an excellent idea to do as much face to face promotion and interaction as possible.

Experiential Marketing — Build Your Brand Memorable
The main goal of experiential marketing is to build closer ties with consumers by offering them the opportunity to interact with brands in a sensory way.Not only it excites consumers to feel attached to a brand, but the firsthand experience with your brand can also help them in making a decision to buy your products and services.

Getting New Business For a Low Price
Starting a new business is a tough task that thousands attempt to do each year. Marketing and gaining new customers is even tougher. However, in the digital age, one can keep up with fans, get new ones, and spend very little money in the process. Below are a few effective methods that do not require one to go broke, or even spend any money at all.

Custom Ink Pens One of a Few Ways to Show School Spirit
Every school has its proud students and alumni who represent every chance they get, both in and outside the classroom. Some may attend every pep rally, while others wear custom T-shirts, complete with the school colors.

All About Documentary And Television Production
Documentary and television productions are fast latching on to the viewer's imagination. As a viewer we ruminate on certain videos for long whether it be a documentary movie or a big bang theory. Documentaries are also becoming the tool of choice when it comes to creating awareness on an issue or propagating a current agenda.

Best Quality Event Staffing
Event staff operations are service oriented and it is their duty to provide best function to their guests. They attend personal guests and provide good hospitality to the guests attending a function or a party.

What Makes 'As Seen on TV' Products So Popular?
As seen on TV products are growing in popularity because they are being widely accepted by the audiences. But, what if you missed out on an important part of the ad?