Ever wonder how important is branding? How come the skittles fan page has over 10 million fans on Facebook? Why Christian Louboutin is known for the red bottoms? Why we identify McDonald’s with arch? Nike with the swoosh? This day branding your company is as important as quality, reputation and design.
Ever wonder why companies such as Macy’s, Starbucks, Nike or Pepsi pay top dollar for the best designers, advertising and marketing associates? Because branding is what represents your company, this is the first thing you notice when buying a product, your staff, appearance, slogan, colors, branding is all of the above and is something to consider investing when building your business.
Let’s say your sales rep means with a client the way he or she represents themselves is the way the client will portray your brand, customer sees your ad will they associate your AD with your brand? Ask a selection of people on the street what do they think about when they see a yellow arch I’m sure they will identify it with McDonald’s, how about if you say coffee most likely they will starbucks.
Branding starts with you the business owner, the way you represent yourself is the same way others will represent you.You must make your staff aware of your vision, what or whom they are representing, your ideologies and design identity.
Here are few tips that will help get your brand in the right direction
Consistency:there is nothing more important than being consistent.Make sure your brand is cohesive all through out, from your website, business cards, social media it’s important you use the logo, brand and content throughout.
Communication: It is important to communicate with your employers, friends or clients of what your company represents and your vision is, therefore everyone is on the same page and are not misrepresenting your brand.
Take Notice: If you ever her a rumor take notice even if it’s a ridiculous rumor all of these things indicate your brand image.
Pay attention to your employees: Your staff is a representation of you, if someone is unhappy take notice remember other’s attitude and feelings will eventually come back to you and your brand.
Interact: just because you have a staff representing you doesn’t mean you don’t have to speak to clients or attend events. Remember people want to know about the owner as much as they want to know about the company. You are the vision and the brand.
Be prepared:always be prepared, organized and on time.
Just remember Rome wasn’t build overnight and the same goes for your brand. It isn’t simple as changing a strategy or updating your website, branding takes diligence from your entire staff in order to be truly successful.Every single person in your organization need to be on the same page and heading in the same direction. If someone asks you what differentiates you from the competition, every single person on your staff should be able to answer this question the same way from the receptionist, to the assistants, to the executive staff to your project managers. Every strategy should represent your brand. This means advertising, publicity, clothing and the everything else that comes along.
