Marketing 101: Branding
December 16, 2014
When it comes to your business, one of the most important things that you deal with is your “brand“. This is also one of the most over-used words in the corporate work place today. It has become a catch phrase like the term “synergy“.
Understanding how valuable your brand is ranks right up there with profit and loss statements at the end of your year. There are extreme studies that can help you determine your brand equity. What concerns me most of all is the flippant way small businesses use their brand. They carelessly make changes to their look, their materials, their logo, and various other visual representations of who they are. They wonder how these large brands have arrived at where they currently are without ever considering what it took to get there.
Take Walt Disney for instance. One of the most recognizable brands in the world. Its logo is a scripted font without much contrast or color. It has remained the same for decades. Their brand has superseded a man’s name and as become what children wonder about and what parents are comfortable giving to their children without question of its content. It has become a magical place filled with enchantment and fun.
How did all of that come out of a man’s name that was written in a lackluster font? Maybe it’s in this that we find that our emphasis should not always be on how we look, but who we truly are as an organization. This reminds me of how I used to pick movies or books off of a shelf. My wife would always rave about what she had seen or read while I was always disappointed with my choices. I have always been fooled by the glitz and glamor of the cover while my wife would always take the time to discern based on content. We are in an age where our content is available everywhere and our content is far more important that the look we give it.
Consider looking at one of our brands that we use to set us apart in the markets that we invest in. Ann Lee Interiors, www.annleeinteriors.com. There are many advantages to developing and utilizing our own interior brand:
1. A brand makes one’s company look legitimate
2. A brand sets one apart from the competition
3. A brand allows one to avoid the appearance of a “rehabber” and rather appear as a custom home designer – which results in a higher purchase price
4. A brand gives one the feeling of being “custom.” People equate “custom” with expensive. We are able to provide the customer what THEY want on all price points
So, get out there and start “branding!”
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