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What's your brand?

Dreams and Passions? Of course madam.

I don’t know about you but sometimes when I read one of those wonderful ‘strap lines’ dreamed up by ‘clever’ marketing people, I wonder what planet they’re on.

You know the sort of thing, a bus company that promises to “move your dreams forward” or a utility company that offers “service with passion”. When the message simply doesn’t match the type of business or offers grandiose or sceptical promises it damages rather than enhances the brand.

I actually want to bank with a bank that makes money from banking – and I know that they will make some of from me! I also want to know that my money is safe and that they keep up with what is going on in the financial world, that they don’t put my money at risk by making rash decisions or by lending it to people that can’t pay it back (not many to choose from at the moment then). In other words, I want to bank with a successful bank – one that proves it by its actions and reflects that in its branding. If they have to sell to me on the basis of nefarious and unrelated promises then I wonder why they can’t sell me on the real successes they make – perhaps they haven’t any or don’t actually know what they are doing?

Our clients and customers judge us initially by our brand image. When that brand (by way of logo and/or strap line ) makes either direct or indirect promises then its imperative that those promises match expectations and perceptions of the marketplace we are in – otherwise it simply appears an empty use of words and has either no impact or worse, engenders mistrust or even derision.

Branding on small budgets.

In a small business budgets rarely exist for such corporate indulgencies as ‘branding’ and it is therefore either ignored or given little attention. The challenge however is that like it or not we all create a brand image of one sort or another and if we leave it to chance, the chances are it will be lacking in power or give entirely the wrong impression and work against us.

To ensure our brand is positive and supportive, we therefore need to look at where our brand comes from – how it is created and its individual elements and component parts.

Much of our brand image is derived from the traditional ‘carriers’ like logo’s because of course that is the face of our business cards, letterheads etc. and web site. Achieving the correct image in these areas is the stuff of experts; however, they must be controlled if we are to avoid the traps described earlier. If you have the budget and intend to take on a branding agency, make sure that when you brief them you keep their feet firmly on the ground and their heads out of the clouds. Think what marketplace you’re in – what your business represents – the real benefits of dealing with you – your very own Usp’s, and use these as your business strap line or as the basis of your logo – and keep it real and honest! Remember, its always better to under promise and oversupply – not just because it makes for long term customer retention but also because an over promise when attached to a logo (or any other type of sales procedure) will create mistrust and actually lose sales opportunities.

If you are creating your own written and visual brand, use the same rules – and add one other – keep it simple!

Job Done?

And what if we have been very clever and produced (or had produced for us) a really good brand, is that the job done?

No – the job has just begun - and this really is the point of this article, because, however well we create the company brand, its success will be totally dependent on the ‘personal brand’ of the people that represent it.

Have you ever been turned off a national brand by the salesperson, or by a bad telephone reception – it happens often doesn’t it. We need to be vigilant at all times that we are not damaging the brand we represent – and if it’s your company then you need to be even more vigilant.

Our personal brand is represented by our appearance, speech and attitude. It is portrayed by the words we use and the things we do – in fact everything we are is our personal brand and will impact on our company brand.

As the person representing you company your personal brand must support and enhance your company brand – otherwise all the hard work that goes into building the company brand will be wasted – and if its your company you need to pay attention to the individual brands of everyone on your staff, even if they are not in a customer facing role, as the way we act even inside the company will impact on the pride in its brand.

Just as a pointer. I attend many networking events with small business owners in several areas of the country. I find so often I often have to make a real effort to look past their personal brand in order to discover any respect for their company brand and sometimes their personal brand is so bad you simply can’t get past it.

Un-pressed and inappropriate clothing, poor personal hygiene and untidy conversation – sounds over the top I know, but next time you stand in front of someone who is trying to impress you don’t rely on your sub-conscious, really study their personal brand and see why you do or don’t feel as though you could do business with them.

Always remember – first impressions count and if you fail to get your message across and don’t know why – check out your personal brand!

Want to know more about personal branding and its impact on your success? Send for our special report, ‘The face of branding’. info@communicate4.co.uk


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