Many business owners feel that their branding is complete when the logo ink dries, but branding is as much about the message as it is the symbol (if not more). So what’s all this hoopla about branding, and can your brand pass the “sense” test?
First, is your company really branded? Are people willing to pay your more for your product or service than someone else? If so, you are branded. Brands, like gardens; however, needs to be tended. Still, unlike gardens, you can have the best name, mark, symbol, mascot or logo in the world, but if nobody knows about it, how will you make money?
So, how do you brand your brand? “The Internet”, right? After all, the cyber highway connects us to the world. Well, the Internet can build a brand instantly, no question. Or the Internet can collapse a brand in a nanosecond… literally. The test, then, is whether your brand can stick in a positive way. So, what makes a brand stick? Let’s look at these three ways to get some staying power:
* UVPs
* Emotional impact
* Initial Impression
UVP/USP
UVPs are your Unique Value Proposition (aka USP, or Unique Sales Proposition), which sets your product or service apart from your competition. Simply put: What do you offer that your competition doesn’t? Many business owners make the mistake of thinking value is discounting prices rather than adding value. Added value can be as simple as paying attention to your key customers! Did you know that 68% of customers don’t buy from a company because of perceived indifference. Yes! Perceived indifference. In other words, they think you don’t care!
Emotional Impact
To develop a brand or even test your current brand, try breaking your brand down by sensory detail. People are emotional buyers, but they’re also sensory preceptors. They taste, touch, smell, see, and hear, and make many of their decisions on their reactions to things through sensory experience. How does your product or service:
* Taste? (Think “Sweet success!”)
* Feel? (Think “Pumped up!”)
* Smell? (Think “It all makes sense, now.”)
* Look? (Think “Visibly happier!”)
* Sound? (IThink “Whoohooo! Profits are soaring!”)
For some, this will be a fun exercise. For others, it will be torture. And while trying to view your product or service in this way may feel foreign to you, I still encourage you to try to break down your product or service by sensory detail in a way that will speak to your intended audience in your marketing material.
Clearly the positive sensory reactions are what we want to project. The negatives are what we want to avoid! (Let’s leave those for our competitors!)
* Taste – What flavor will your intended market pick up on by using your product or service?
Positive: Sweet! Spicy! Zesty! Hot! Tantalizing! Tempting! Inviting! Alluring!
Negative: Bitter! Harsh! Soured! Unpleasant! Hot they’re not! Bad taste in my mouth!
* Feel: How will your product or service make them feel?
Positive: Satisfied! Fulfilled! Venturesome! Relieved! Pleased! Rewarded! Confident! Dignified! Successful!
Negative: Screw them! Disappointed! Didn’t measure up! Lied! Cheated! Robbed!
* Smell: What scents (or sense if you’re playful with words) will your intended market pick up on?
Positive: Alluring! Captivating! Appealing! Revealing! Sweet!
(The other “Sense”) Smart! Good decision! Right choice! Makes sense! Brilliant! Perceptive!
Negative: Stinks! Foul! Skunked! Deadly! Rank! Uninteresting!
(The other “Sense”) Stupid! Bad idea! Bad choice! Will never make that mistake again!
* Look: Visually, what will your intended market see?
Positive: Inviting! Visually appealing! Engaging! Caught my eye! Lookin’ good! What a difference! Very clear!
Negative: Do they need glasses? Bad deal! Clear as mud!
* Sound/Tone: Listen closely. What message will your product or service leave them with? How are you expressing that message? What’s your tone? (Friendly? Assuring? Confident? Engaging? Educational?)
Positive: Sizzling! I hear you! Sounds promising! Sounds good to me! Hear, hear! I like the sound of that!
Negative: Sounds horrible! How awful! Sounds too good to be true! Yeah, right! You’ve got to be kidding? No way!
I’m sure you can fill in more samples for both positives and negatives for each sensory detail.
Initial Impression:
For company branding, certainly specific elements apply that help “brand” your product or service in the minds and hearts of your intended market. These include:
* Color and font consistency – How does your intended market instantly recognize you?
* Logo, banner, mascot – How does your logo, banner and/or mascot carry your message beyond the written word?
* Unique Value Proposition (or USP: Unique Sales Proposition) – How are you very clear on what sets you apart from your competition? Is that message relayed consistently throughout your social networking? It can’t be just talk. What actions and/or results prove your claim?
* Community – How are you positioning yourself in your community? In what way are you valuable to your community?
Figuring out how to grab your intended market can be tricky. It’s funny, really, because companies like Bush’s Baked Beans touts their UVP as a “secret family recipe” that even Duke, the dog knows about, and we, as consumers buy into it. Why? Well, for one, we like secrets, two, we like dogs, and three, the beans actually taste good. (A colleague says her mom’s beans tasted like that. It was the molasses. There! The secret is out!)
Branding is a two-way proposition. On one hand, it’s effectively searing your image into the minds and hearts of your intended market. On the other, it’s masterfully navigating the social media network, integrating Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media venues into your branding efforts. Decide, for instance, how you will map out your branding efforts for impact and visibility and if you need help, get it!
Business Coaches help business owners in the areas of system implementation, processes cashflow, leads, team building, marketing, leadership, and management. Agencies such as HubSpot offer businesses an all-in-one marketing solution; blogging, analytics, social media, email, and automation.
In closing, brand comes from the Norse word brandt, meaning “to burn”. What message does your brand burn into the minds of your intended market, and what are you doing to keep that branding positive, active, and in demand?
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