THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL! It’s time to stand out from the crowd – time to think brand not bland

There’s far too much bland out there - blands as far as the eye can see. Every business, regardless of its size, stage or type, is a brand whether it deliberately set out to create one or not. The problem is that too many businesses are more accurately blands because they just bland in with the competition and don’t stand out from the crowd. They are commodities, not brands and they are clearly suffering from delusions of blandeur.

Logos and names are not brands. They are simply brand identifiers that help your target audience to identify your product or service offering from that of your perceived competitors.

Your brand, on the other hand, is what your business stands for and is seen to stand for because that is what people buy – not what you are or what you do. That is why branding is fundamentally the art of managing perceptions, of managing what you want and need to be perceived to stand for.

Strategy before execution –Brand before marketing

Sadly, new businesses often make the mistake of diving into execution and marketing, coming up with names and having logos designed, websites built before they have identified what their message needs to be.

They have failed to identify what they need to be seen to stand for in order to positively differentiate themselves from their perceived competitors. They simply don’t know what their brand is.

Necessity is often the mother of re-invention

Established businesses need to periodically take a step back and take a long hard look at themselves from the outside in. This is because what matters is how they are perceived and what they are seen to stand for by those viewing them from an external perspective.

Too many businesses present themselves as they did when they originally launched. They do this unthinkingly, despite the fact that they may have changed significantly due to changes in the market over time, new competition or the fact that they have changed their offerings.

To remain relevant and current, every business should periodically review actions that they might need to take in order to manage their perceptionsactions necessary to revitalise, refresh and reinvigorate their presentation and perhaps even reinvent and rebrand themselves if this is required.