Part 3: Marketing your start-up – Branding
Brand is often misunderstood and misinterpreted as being a colour or a logo, a strapline or even an image. However, a good brand is so much more than this.
Branding is a unifying concept that provides coherence to strategies and communications and helps clients to understand companies better.
Brands live in people’s minds – they are the sum total of our perception and feelings towards a certain product, service, or business. This in turn determines, and is directly linked to, the value that we place upon that product, service, or business. Businesses that have a well-managed, strong, and consistent brand tend to have greater brand equity and a higher market value than their competitors.
It is therefore important to get your brand right from the start. Spend time investing in your brand as it forms the foundation of your marketing and, if done correctly, will be with you for a very long time.
As your brand is something that needs to stand the test of time, it is important not to focus too much on current trends. What matters is what resonates with your audience. Do your research and try to understand what they respond to. Which brands lead the industry you operate in? Which brands do your target audience engage with? Always keep your audience in mind during your brand development phase as while it is important that you like your brand, it is even more important that it appeals to them.
Once you have your brand nailed down, ensure it is applied properly and consistently across everything that you do, from signage and uniforms, to marketing collateral and social media. The argument for consistency is very simple – variation that has no purpose is distracting. Keeping a consistent style encourages readers to concentrate on what is being communicated.
In next week’s blog post we will be looking at the importance of communication. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about how we can help your business, get in touch for an initial chat.