Halfway through January with the holidays well behind us, we are entrenched in work once again and looking for sustainability and growth in the New Year.
As you set yourself up with your 2014 strategy and run down the check-list of the Top Ten Questions to ask yourself to grow your business this year (click here for the check list), so far you have defined your goals, both short-term and long-term.
We move on now, to the second question on our Top Ten Q’s list:
Do your verbal and visual messages (your brand) speak to your target markets?
First of all – what’s a brand?
A brand is both a visual and verbal expression of your company. It is how you initially communicate to the outside world who and what your company is about. Your name, logo, tagline and messaging (including a mission statement and/or philosophy) is your corporate identity.
All of these tangibles — logo, tagline, mission, messaging — together make up a strong brand and provide a business with a platform for growth. These tangibles should express all consumer touch-points, be easily recognizable, differentiating and help you gain a presence in the marketplace. They are your Corporate or Brand Identity:
What is a brand identity?
When branding or rebranding a business, one of the most important, initial action items is to create a corporate identity. This “brand identity” will be the first impression that many of your customers/clients have of you, your company, your product or service. Don’t underestimate the importance of your brand. Whether it’s your website (sometimes the first place prospective clients go), shop signage, or business card, all elements of your brand identity must have continuity that conveys a professional image authentic to your business while your messaging speaks to your target market(s). Start with the logo:
Logo
The visual expression of your company. A logo is the image of your company that you want to convey. Colors, styles, topography all contribute to the visual projection of your corporate image — do you want to appear hip, sophisticated, whimsical, modern, etc.? You definitely don’t want to appear antiquated, disconnected and inconsistent with the “voice” of your company. Put “energy” into your brand because it matters.
To better understand the goal of a logo – here’s one we all know well:
Tagline
The verbal expression of your company. In just a few words, a tagline sums up the product or service you offer, builds trust and incites customers to buy. “Just do it,” the well known and oft-repeated Nike tagline speaks to an entire target market of athletes – everyone from the weekend warrior to the professional; “just do it,” rings true for the continuum of athletes of all abilities, everywhere.
Mission statement
Your logo and tagline together should differentiate and convey your mission. Your mission statement is the all-encompassing declaration that further explains your commitment to your target market and the public at large.
Building a brand
There is no secret formula for building a brand. It is a process. As an established business, you shouldn’t start from scratch with a new logo unless there is a good reason or need to disconnect yourself from that image. When building a stronger brand, a business with a strong and established logo does not need to create a new design; a strong brand can grow out of new, more powerful and pointed verbiage. Take our client, Shoe Train, for example. You’ll see from our portfolio how we strengthened their brand by bringing into the 21st century a 3-decade old logo while giving a huge splash of life into the retail outlets verbal message:
The logo and tagline allow your customer to interpret your corporate identity while the mission statement is the opportunity for you to “define” your corporate identity and differentiate yourself. Let me repeat that – it’s the key to understanding how to build a brand: The logo and tagline allow your customer to interpret your corporate identity while the mission statement is the opportunity for you to “define” your corporate identity and differentiate yourself.
Let’s take a look at two different examples of businesses defining their brands through their mission statement.
The Diener School: Our client had an established logo that could not be changed but didn’t specifically convey or represent to the target market what the school was about. Therefore, it was incumbent upon /’sas∙s’ē/ agency to write a mission statement that truly defined everything the school was. We nailed it: “To teach through experience, stimulate academically, prepare socially and create a successful educational journey that motivates minds and inspires capabilities for a lifetime.”
Starbucks: With a mermaid for a logo, or is it Mother Nature (no one really knows), Starbucks’ mission says it all and with great passion: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Note please – they never say the word coffee! It’s brilliant.
Consistent messaging
Messaging can be specific to your company’s target market(s). It should provide information that differentiates and also encourages your target market(s) to want to connect with you. For those companies with a varied target market – let’s say parents as well as teenagers, athletes as well as corporate executives — who need need to be “spoken to” differently, messaging can be tricky. The service(s) may be the same, but each target market may require specific/different information relevant to them.
Here are two examples: AJSS (American Jewish Society for Service) & Play it Coy.
Taking your brand to the next level is imperative. Your name, logo, tagline and messaging is your corporate identity.
Tips to creating a stronger brand in your market place
- Integrate your logo, tagline, mission statement and messaging
- Understand what your brand means to your audience (current & prospective clients)
- Be authentic
- Align your brand with your mission
- Be consistent (if your smart you need a “clever” brand)
- Have continuity with the visual expression and verbal expression
- Create a marketing plan to build on your message
- Create a PR plan that supports your message
- Design a social media strategy that is a platform for your messaging
In summary, a strong brand creates a connection between you and your current consumer as well as a prospective client. A strong brand reflects your corporate image and can help you build trust and confidence. Most importantly, it can attract your target market to you.
As we go through our check list for check-list of the Top Ten Questions to ask yourself to grow your business this year (click here for the check list), you have now
1) Defined your goals, both short-term and long-term.
2) You now understand the concept of creating a strong brand identity.
Next on our list: defining a PR plan for 2014. And, if you think you don’t need or can’t afford public relations, well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Stay tuned.
