BACK TO BRAND

Is your branding letting you down and needs replacing, or does it just need a little TLC to optimise it to deliver you the business results you deserve? Carefully building, developing and then nurturing your brand can bring you meaningful immediate and long-term value.

By JARMILA YU, Founder & Consulting CMO, YUnique Marketing

In today’s crowded marketplace, having a strong brand plays a crucial role in giving you a competitive advantage. How you establish, build and present your brand is important and needs to be approached with care, so you avoid wasting money or worse still damage your reputation.

In the current world of increased competition, disruption and trust erosion, we need to get “Back to Brand” thinking – your brand could hold the key to unlocking the potential in your business, not least in attracting clients, staff, partners, investment and buyers.

We may live in a technology empowered era, but ultimately, we sell Human to Human, whether we’re a B2B or a B2C business. In optimising your brand, consider humanising it too. Also take the extra step to build a personal brand that fits alongside the corporate brand. When they work in harmony, it’s extremely powerful.

Your Business Case Checklist For Going Back To Brand

A strong brand is the foundation stone of a successful business. A strong brand will deliver value. A well-developed brand can harness your culture, values and communications into a cohesive expression that invites all to engage in your mission.

Three Steps To Getting Started

So, where and how do you start building or re-tuning your brand? Take time to think about your brand around the three steps listed below, and then consider if you may benefit from seeking professional support to guide you through the stages of brand strategy, development and implementation. People talk about brand strategy but what exactly is it? Simply put, it’s a way of prioritising the key points of your organisation into a message hierarchy that captures the DNA of your business.

1 Defi ne your vision and mission

2 Consider your key audiences

3 Prioritise your key selling points

The basics expressed in the most relevant and compelling way can then be used to guide design development, communication campaigns, web messaging and product development etc.

Five Tips

1

YOUR BRAND NEEDS TO BE CLEAR, DIFFERENTIATING AND RELEVANT

You may already have a clear understanding of what your brand stands for, but do your employees and customers understand that as well as you do?

2

DON’T BE A “COPY-CAT” BRAND

Each reader will take something different away from this article; because we are all different, our companies are all different, and at different stages of organisational maturity. Just as we each have a unique set of DNA, so too should our businesses.

3

CONSISTENT BRAND MESSAGING NEEDS TO WORK ACROSS ALL YOUR TOUCHPOINTS

You need to defi ne what your brand stands for, what messages you need to convey, what character you want to present, and you have to ensure you demonstrate this across all your assets. You also need to consider how this can translate to an appropriate visual identity (logo and other design elements) to bring your brand to life on digital, print and other communications assets.

4 ALLOW FOR AUTHENTIC ON-BRAND VOICES TO BE HEARD

Everyone in your business has an important responsibility in communicating your brand to the outside world. Everyone has a role to play in representing your brand, and they need to understand it to be able to do that effectively. It’s vital you set the brand defi nition from the top and then equip and enable your employees to communicate about your brand in a way that is comfortable and natural for them.

5 Build Your Brand With Vision

It’s vital you build your brand to your vision and WITH vision.