How do you keep your customers always connected to your company?

Imagine your customers not knowing what to expect from you or your company. Imagine if they really can’t tell the difference between your product and your competitors’ product.

What is your promise to your customers?

What idea or image do people get in their minds when thinking about your product or service?

It’s called #Branding

It is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail, B2B or B2C.

It is not just the physical features of the product that sticks with the customers. It is the feeling that they develop towards the company or its product.

This combination of physical and emotional behaviours is typically triggered when a customer is exposed to the company / product name, logo, the visual identity or the message. Building #brand_identity usually takes companies years to create that bond between the customer and the brand.

The corner stone of the brand is the logo. All vehicles such as your website, social media platforms, brochures, packaging material, promotional items… etc. communicate your brand.

In order to communicate your brand effectively, you need to have a #brand_strategy.

·       What are your brand messages?

·       What are you going to communicate visually and/or verbally to deliver your brand messages?

·       What are the media you’ll use to deliver your messages?

·       To whom are you planning to communicate your brand messages?

Moreover, your distribution channels are part of your brand strategy. How are you going to ensure that your brand promise is achieved?

Once the brand strategy is identified, you need to start delivering it, and delivering on it! Consistent strategic branding leads to a strong #brand_equity. A strong brand equity allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical products of other brands or unbranded would charge. One of the most powerful examples of this is Coca Cola. They built a strong brand equity and therefore can charge more for its product as opposed to competitor generic soda drinks. And yes, Coke customers will pay more for it!

Same with Mercedes Benz, Xerox, Nike, Visa, Lego, Johnson and Johnson… and more.

To add value to brand equity, companies usually focus on perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, “adidas” associates its products with star athletes, hoping that an emotional trigger will happen based on the relationship with this specific athlete and therefore the sale. So, it’s not just the shoe features that sell the shoe!

Now you need to get the word out. Place your logo virtually everywhere! Ensure your employees know your brand message, and that they say it, especially those of them who are customer-facing. Integrate your brand in your email signatures, how the phone is answered, what is worn to customer visits. Make sure your tagline is meaningful, concise and captures the essence of your brand.

Create #brand_standards: logo colour, placement, templates… the complete look-and-feel. You don’t need to be fancy, just be consistent!

Be true to your brand. If you fail to deliver on your brand promise, your customers will go away and will not refer you.

Let’s start building your brand. Reach out to me to schedule a no-obligation branding discussion!

Email: sherif@theoneconsultants.net