Creating and maintaining the company’s brand

Every business wants to be a customer’s first choice. Building and managing a brand can play a significant part in making that happen.

The concept of a brand extends far beyond just your company logo to your business’ core values and to every interaction you have with customers and suppliers. In effect, your brand creates and maintains your reputation and so reflects your customers’ experience of your organisation.

Customers and employees can build up emotional attachments to certain brands, allowing for strong loyalties and even a sense of ownership. This can help maintain employee motivation and increase your sales but it can also cause problems if you don’t consult these stakeholders as your business grows.

Your brand is what you are really selling to your customers, not just a product or service for which there may already be many existing providers. A strong brand can make any business stand out from the crowd, particularly in competitive markets.

What exactly is a brand?

A brand isn’t just a recognizable name and brand logo that distinguishes you in a crowded market.

“Your brand is how people perceive you wherever they interact with your business—both the impressions you can control and the ones you can’t.”

When you think about it, people have personal brands, too. We each have a name, a face, a style, a way of communicating, and with these traits, we make different impressions on different people.

Likewise, businesses have names, products, logos, colors, fonts, voices, and reputations that makeup what they are and affect how they’re perceived.

You can’t effectively approach how to create a brand without being consistent and maintaining that consistency as you extend your brand to every part of your business. The best way to build a brand starts with establishing what that consistency is going to look like and the feeling you want it to evoke.

How do you develop a brand?

Developing a brand involves identifying your business strategy, target customers and their needs, your competition, and your brand positioning and messaging. Once you know your core brand identity, you can create a logo and tagline and develop a branding and marketing strategy alongside. After that, bring your brand to life through your website.

 

What is in a brand kit?

A brand kit contains all the information someone would need to get to know your brand, as well as promote your brand. Almost every brand kit includes the company name and logo, color palette, and other approved imagery. Some brand kits also include information about the company’s founders and team, goals, and products. A brand kit is helpful for press and PR teams, brand ambassadors, affiliates, and influencers.

How to build a brand

Building a new brand essentially boils down to seven steps:

1. Research your target audience and your competitors.
2. Pick your focus and personality.
3. Choose your business name.
4. Write your slogan.
5. Choose the look of your brand (colors and font).
6. Design your brand logo.
7. Apply your branding across your business.

While you might revisit some steps as you pivot or create your brand, it’s important that you consider each aspect as you shape your brand identity. 

The five key elements that go into a successful branding campaign are:

Brand position

The part which describes what your organisation does, whom it caters to, what your unique values are, what differentiates you from other companies and what the consumer can gain by using your product or service is collectively known as the brand position. Once you have concluded your brand’s position, the next step is to make it known to the world outside in different versions of 25, 50 and 100 words.

Brand promise

The single most important thing that the organisation promises to deliver every single time is a brand promise. In order to come up with your brand promise, you need to consider what employees, customers and partners expect from you in every transaction. Every business move should be weighed against this promise to be sure that it justifies it or at the very least it does not directly contradict it.

Brand personality

Brand traits are what will illustrate what the brand should be known for within and outside the organisation. You need to think about the specific personality traits you want your employees, prospects, partners and clients to use whenever they describe your organisation. You need to have at least four to seven traits that stand for your brand and describe what to expect from it.

Brand story

Alongside the organisation’s history, how it adds credibility, shapes the face of and lends value to the brand is called the brand story. It also usually includes a summary of your services and products.

Brand associations

Specific physical artefacts that make up the brand are known as brand associations. This includes your logo, name, colours, fonts, image tagline and so on. Your brand promise and your brand traits must be reflected through your brand association. Your brand association must also support your brand positioning statement.

Creating a Brand Strategy

The first step to turning your business into a brand is to develop your brand strategy.

Of course, this isn’t an easy process. Your strategy is a long-term plan that requires time, creativity, and resources.

Setting your goals is also important! Think about how your business will impact your potential customers’ lives and what solutions you can provide to their pain points.

Effective strategies should always have the following elements:

In a nutshell, your strategy should focus on delivering positive and unique experiences that will make consumers want to invest in you.

And don’t forget! The better the experience, the more people will talk about you, slowly turning you into a must-have rather than a maybe.

Following these five guidelines to build and maintain your company’s brand integrity.

1. Choose the right products

One misstep can create a long-lasting negative impression for a brand. IHOP drove this lesson home when the company changed its name and logo to IHOB to announce new burger offerings on its menu. Customers and critics alike lampooned the decision, stating that the company had strayed from its breakfast roots. IHOP reverted to its old name and logo, and it claimed the move was only a temporary promotional stunt. Even if that’s true, it didn’t undo the negative publicity the brand endured.

The lesson here is simple: Choose the right products to maintain consistency in your brand message. Trying to go “off the menu” to deliver what you think is a better product could confuse customers, employees, vendors and other parties. Products should always feel cohesive and congruent with your overall brand identity. That consistency lays the foundation for brand trust.

2. Make customers your top priority

Customer engagement forms the backbone of any successful business. Your company gains strength by offering high-quality products and reliable services to its customers time and time again. It’s the cornerstone for building relationships of trust with those customers.

Dropping the ball can be a disaster. Customers notice when your company makes mistakes, such as producing inferior products or offering poor customer service. Such slip-ups can convince them to leave, which ultimately hurts your brand reputation and negatively impacts your bottom line.

One of the best things your business can do is to fulfill what your brand promises by putting your customers first. Start by

• Identifying their needs.
• Create solutions tailored to meet their needs.
• Keep communication open by hiring a dedicated customer support team and maintaining an active presence on social media. 

Because when your business is approachable, customers are more likely to trust your brand to find solutions for their problems as they arise.

3. Be honest

Chances are, when you see an infomercial pop up on TV, you quickly change the channel. Why is that such a common reaction? The simple answer is that no one likes feeling manipulated.

Infomercials have a lousy reputation partly because the products featured are often long on promises and short on results. From cookware guaranteed to never wear out to miracle cures for a host of ailments, these products are often too good to be true. No customers enjoy feeling misled, and the brands associated with “As Seen on TV,” products often suffer the results of negative perception.

Your business should be wary of falling into the same trap. Always be truthful in advertising and other forms of communication with customers — respect their intelligence. Be honest about what your products and services can do, and play to their natural strengths.

Fostering integrity with your brand starts with honesty. If a customer can’t trust your brand messaging, how can you expect them to trust your business?

4. Employ realistic marketing strategies

Reckless marketing campaigns give the wrong impression about your brand to customers and employees alike. It’s tempting to kick the hype machine into overdrive whenever you roll out a new product or service. But bigger isn’t always better. If your marketing veers into uncharted territory by making promises your business can’t keep, the road back to restoring brand integrity can be long and treacherous.

How do you feel when a product works as advertised? It’s amazing! You want to give that same feeling to your customers and employees. Give them a reason to feel excited, of course, but make sure you’re still coloring within the lines. Focus on the real benefits and results of your products, rather than allowing your creative energy to devise claims that aren’t achievable.

5. Maintain a consistent moral code

Doing the right thing for the right reasons is not an antiquated virtue. Businesses who play dirty often end up looking dirty in the eyes of the customers they want to attract.

Understanding which values your customers cherish is essential. Take enough time to learn what those values meanwhile you’re conducting market research. Then, take it a step further and weave those values into the fabric of your brand.

If your brand has core values that define your company’s culture, stick to those values. Doing so fosters an authentic and favorable brand image. Betraying those values can do more to undermine your brand’s integrity than just about anything else. The last thing you need to do in a crowded marketplace gives customers and employees a reason to turn away and march into the arms of a competitor.