Large multinational organisations with considerable marketing budgets often dedicate teams solely to branding; after all, it could make or break your business. Branding can help to position your business as a leader in its market place or reversely, could cost your business both in reputation and bottom line.
I caught up with our Wider branding expert and Creative Director James to get his thoughts.
It’s a common word often thrown around, in your opinion what is branding?
“Branding can often bring about a sense of confusion, it’s not any one part of a business; it’s everything about your business and how you want your business to be perceived.
Of course your logo, marketing materials, signage, colour palette and marketing messages are all tangible aspects of your brand, but they should work in harmony with the intangible elements to really help define your brand as a whole.”
Your brand is your clients’ total experience of your business built around its key values, principles and personality.
“It’s not fixed by one person’s view, it’s made up of people’s different thoughts and most importantly what thoughts spring to mind when they hear your name. As a business, you have no direct control over what others perceive about your brand but you can influence and attract people in how you communicate everything you say and do, how you deliver on your promise and how you differentiate yourself, service or product.”
Why is a brand so important to a business?
“It’s important because it can do great things for your business; including these 3 things:
It can help grow your business – a good brand will encourage people to trust you, as a result, your client base will more likely remain loyal over the long term.
Encourages trust in your product or service. – If you ever experience an issue with one of your products or service, your client is more likely to be understanding and work with you, because they trust you to rectify the problem.
Differentiate your business – by differentiating your service or product, you stand a better chance of winning new business over your competition.”
Is branding as important for a small business as a large corporate?
“Of course, no matter what size your business, whether you’re a small local retailer, a national organisation or an online business, your brand is a fundamental part of your organisation. In today’s world, your online presence means you’re accessible to the world; your website is a shop window for all to see. If you want your business to grow, you need a solid and memorable brand because without it you have no purpose – it’s this purpose that gives the business its’ personality, character, uniqueness and authenticity.”
What are the most important things to consider when building a brand?
“Target audience – Knowing your target audience and engaging with them is key to building a brand. Actively listening to what they say, understanding their goals and aspirations will help you to find the best way to solve their problem.”
Authenticity – Communicate your messages in a way that is true to your business. Depending on your target audience, what personality and traits do you want your business to share with your target audience?
Here are the Wider brand traits:
Professional but not arrogant
Attentive but not casual
Creative but not eccentric
Charismatic but not conceited
Techy but not geeky
Innovative but not experimental
Passion – If you are truly and deeply passionate about your brand, you’re 100% behind what you believe in and stand for. Any elements of doubt or uncertainty can trickle through your message and be easily detected by your audience. Passion can lift you through the tough times in business.
Positioning – Correct positioning of your business is critical to attracting the right clients. Position yourself too high and you risk being perceived as unbelievable and untrustworthy. A classic example is promising something you can’t deliver on. For a service-based business this may be missing important deadlines or for a product based business compromising on the quality of your products.”
“No Unique Selling Point – If there is no main difference between what you and your competitors offer, you have no unique edge, this could lead to a weak brand that is hard for people to recognise and remember.
Trying to please everyone – This goes back to the point above on positioning. By trying to cast your net wide appealing to everyone can invariably end up appealing to nobody. Businesses that specialise or niche in one area tend to grow at a faster rate than businesses that are more generalised.
Failing to understand your target audience – How well do you really know your clients and target audience? How often do you ask for feedback? It’s been proven that businesses that carry out regular research on their target audience are more successful and have a better reputation.”
With many years of experience in brand creation and development, James can walk you through the different stages from developing your brand persona, planning your brand strategy through to creating the right mix of brand communication tools to help you build a successful brand to give your business a competitive edge.
