What does your branding say about you?

By Jennifer Frazier

Imagine this:  A business owner dons his or her best suit and hops into a luxury car to head to a lunch meeting at the area’s toniest restaurant.  The meeting goes extremely well.  Confidence is high on both sides that this is a good fit.  The business owner then passes the prospect a business card printed for free online (it says so on the back), and points the prospect toward a website designed by his second cousin’s best friend who just completed a web design course at the local community college. 

Sound far-fetched?  Unfortunately, it’s not.  For some business owners, branding is seen as something only the really big companies do.  It’s often viewed as something that’s not really necessary if they’re not Nike.  But what they don’t realize is that they are building a brand every day, with every new prospect they reach out to – whether it’s good or bad.

Branding is not how you look, or what you say.  It’s who you are, both as a professional and as a company. 

Your whole demeanor should ooze your brand.  It should become a part of your corporate culture.  It should be jealously guarded and vehemently defended.   So what it is a brand?  It’s all the elements of your identity coming together in a seamless, effective, and consistent way. They support one another, much as marketing supports sales and sales supports customer service.  

But it’s more than just your logo, your website, and your brochure. 

It’s the way you answer the phone.  The way you sign off on an email.  The events you frequent, and the affiliations you keep. 

Think of it this way.  If I meet you today and I’m a redhead, then I meet you next week and I’m blonde, and then the following week, I’m sporting a brunette do, you wouldn’t know what to expect from me.  Branding is no different.  If your customer sees a different image of your company with each campaign, each eblast, at each meeting, they can’t build the trust in your brand that’s so necessary to sustaining it. 

Why is branding so important?

Branding plays on people’s emotions and seeks to create a binding relationship with customers and prospects.  Because 75 percent of buying decisions are based on branding, according to a recent study by Yankelovich Partners, targeting the right emotions can lead to a greater return on your marketing investment.  Even in this economy, branding is a sure bet.  A 1998 PIMS study showed that increased marketing spending during the last recession achieved an average return on investment of 4.3 percent, compared to 0.6 percent for those that cut spending.

But the most important reason to brand?  It’s the fastest, easiest and most efficient way to separate your company from the competition.  You may be saying the same things, but if you say them better and look better doing it, your company is the one that will rise to be top.

How much should you invest in building your brand?

A good rule of thumb is that you should put 10% of your net profits back into the promotion of your company and the building of your brand.  That doesn’t just mean giving your advertising agency more media dollars or redoing your brochure, although that may be part of it.  It can also mean dedicating human resources to building your social media presence, joining professional organizations in your industry, seeking more accreditations, launching a Customer Relationship Management system, creating a style guide for proper logo usage, or investing in a more user friendly website. 

So what about those online templates and design newbies?

Sometimes you find young, raw web design talent that is brilliant. Sometimes the online printer who does your business cards can also craft a logo.  But to build a strong brand, you need a develop a partnership with a professional team who will guide you and help you stay focused on reaching the next level. 

As advertising professionals, we bring more to the table than just the ability to think up clever headlines or design pretty direct mail pieces.  We bring an intuition for creating and then communicating your brand.  We understand the psychology of what people respond to and why.  We can look at your company objectively, dig deeper to see what your customers see, and then translate marketing messages into powerful branding that keeps your company top of mind.

 “They love my brand, I love my brand, now what?”

Congratulations.  Your customers trust you to be who you say you are, and know you can deliver what your brand promised.  Even though you reach out to them in inventive ways, your corporate voice never changes.  It’s a stability that builds upon itself over time.  And that is the true power of branding.   

About the Author
Since 1988, Jennifer Frazier and her team at The Writing Stable have been creating award-winning advertising that is compelling and motivating.  Made up of a national network of seasoned creative professionals, The Writing Stable helps companies create powerful connections with customers through sound, effective branding. You can reach Jennifer at: www.thewritingstable.com