Establishing a Brand Identity

We are surrounded by brands. You can't read a newspaper or magazine, watch television, listen to radio, see a billboard or view a website without being exposed to hundreds of brand messages, all fighting for your attention. Aware or not, brands are an important influence on our lives. They represent freedom of choice and are key by-products of a democratic system and a market-driven economy. They impact our decisions, color our views and reflect the values of society.

The true measure of a brand goes beyond the performance of the product itself. A strong, healthy brand that delivers on its promise, engages the customer and earns consumer loyalty can result in increased revenue, profit and stock market valuation. In fact, the more your customers believe in your brand, the more value it will return to your company.

The key to successfully establishing a brand identity lies in the central idea behind the brand. The more inspired the idea, the more enduring the brand becomes. It's critical to identify, develop, build and express the right idea for a brand so that the idea provides meaningful business results.

Redefining Your Brand

Once you begin to look at your brand in a different way, the horizon of growth and profitability possibilities expands dramatically. When you reach a plateau, it's time to re-think your business and reconsider the category in which you compete. Develop a broader definition of your industry with wide boundaries and then focus your efforts on a new plan to conquer it.

Since every customer interaction is vital, intimacy is important and the experience itself is everything, team up with like-minded partners who approach their business the same way you do. When you're building a brand, you have to dream as big as you can possibly imagine. No one likes to feel small or anonymous, so as you add products and services and expand operational territories, strive to maintain the personalized feel at every single touch point.

Turning a Brand Around

Is your business under competitive assault? Are sales flat? Is growth sluggish? Is the stock price plummeting? Is your market share eroding?
The brand may simply need a makeover, but it will take swift, tough action to accelerate the process.

Here are a few key things to remember when revitalizing your brand.

First, be patient. It takes a time to engineer a successful turnaround, beginning with a complete review of your history, current position and ultimate goals. Second, don't be too quick to abandon the old ways of doing business as they may still be relevant. Choose what makes sense today. Third, simplify your objectives and make them understandable. Consistent messaging will reinforce your position and clarify your strategies. Fourth, don't try so many new things all at once. You might lose focus on your main competencies. And finally, communicate with your internal audiences first and make certain they recognize the importance of the initiative to the ultimate well-being of the company.

How Strong is Your Brand?

We learned many truths in the late 90's: without a great product or service, a brand won't generate revenue; a sustainable business model alone won't produce revenue; and a company with no revenue won't survive unless it turns a profit. To be successful long-term, a brand must present its customers with a meaningful and relevant differentiation that encourages and motivates them to try, buy and become loyal.

So, how do you know when you've created the perfect brand for your business? In short, you should be able to: describe and differentiate your brand in a succinct statement, relate your brand value to the company's stock price (or net worth), un-bundle your mission/vision/value statements into separate distinct ideas, capture the brand essence in an arresting visual that is uniquely yours (thereby creating an individual identity), and stop thinking of your organization in the past tense as the sum of the founder's near legendary energies. All of your stakeholders will be looking toward the future and so should you.

Investing in your brand might seem less important than pouring money into product, service, sales, marketing, distribution, supply-chain management or research and development, but not doing so means it will be harder to build the business, recruit the best talent and survive long-term.