Guest Article: Branding Your Business

Posted by Michelle Harrington on Jan 19th, 2009

By Guest Author, Linda Pizzitola, Kauai Design Graphics

Kauai Design Graphics offers creative services to enhance your look and your voice, with one-stop shopping for design and copywriting. Visit KauaiDesign.com to see sample projects, a client list and more.

“Branding is the heart and soul of your business…A brand is the mind share that you occupy with your clients.” -Sonia Greteman, The Greteman Group, Wichita KS

Successful businesses connect with customers on a personal level, with everyone in the company on the same page about who you are as an organization, whom you serve, and how you connect. Image comes across first on a non-verbal, emotional level.

“The first job of branding is to craft an emotional bridge between your company and the customers you serve… Everything your company does contributes to the brand-building process and the long-term success of your brand..Think of your brand as the bridge to your customers’ hearts, and as the glue that holds all of your marketing efforts together.” -Debra S. Valle, Marketing U Inc., Los Alamitos CA

A slow economy is a good time for small business owners to step back from day to day operations and work on strengthening (or updating) their brand. The investment of time, energy and resources can pay off handsomely, increasing market share for the company in the long run.

As a starting place, scan the list below for qualities that match the look and feel you want for your business. If your visual identity, from logo to tagline to colors to signage to product and store design, does not reflect that mood and tone, you may be due for a makeover. People change and grow. Organizations change and grow. Shedding an identity you’ve outgrown and cultivating a fresh, up-to-date image can bring new life to your venture.

If your organization were human, what kind of personality would it have?

IMAGE FROM A TO Z
(Thanks to Kristine Moore of Mavis & Moore, Ann Arbor MI)

DO- IT-YOURSELF BRANDING

Competing demands on business owners tend to squeeze out market research (surveys, focus groups, industry trend analysis, etc.) so there’s little substance on which to base a marketing strategy. If that’s true for you, consider this 5-step process you can implement in-house to start building, bolstering or repositioning your company’s brand:

1. Individually and as a group, have your staff brainstorm possibilities for your company. Where is it coming from historically? Where does it fit in? What are the organization’s values and mission? Who is your competition? What are the trends in your industry? What directions might emerge in the near future?

2. Determine how you want to be perceived by your clients and competitors. Identify your unique position in the marketplace. Consider applying a SWOT analysis to assess your firm’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

3. With your destination charted, develop a plan encompassing brand positioning and clear objectives and strategies.

4. Keeping the strategy and audience in mind, work with your graphic designer and copywriter to develop your visual and verbal message.

5. Approve concepts and work with your designer to turn them into tangible materials. Establish a budget, delivery timetables and a launch plan. Then unveil your new identity with an open house, press release, direct mail piece and/or media ad.

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“I believe that in a crowded marketplace DESIGN may be the most potent tool for differentiating one’s products or services.” -Tom Peters, Management Consultant & Author

“Design is a potent strategy tool that companies can use to gain a competitive advantage. It can enhance products, environments, communications, and corporate identity.” -Philip Kotler, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

A graphic identity that embodies an organization’s core values and vision can serve as its North Star to help guide it to its full potential. Out in the marketplace, consistent, strategic use of your company “signature” generates name recognition, gives your business a sense of stability, credibility and professionalism, and inspires trust and loyalty from your customers. Your image is more than just a pretty face.

See www.allaboutbranding.com for an extensive collection of articles and resources.

Take their Branding Assessment Questionnaire at www.allaboutbranding.com/index.lasso?page=11,53,75.

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Author | Michelle Harrington of Emagine Web Marketing
Michelle is a web development and internet marketing professional dedicated to helping small businesses in Hawaii achieve success online. Michelle provides free advice, tips and how to's on the Small Business Internet Marketing Blog.

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