Today I thought I would share some valuable information you can find on IntroducingSuccess.com. The site will be updated frequently, so if there are other ideas you are keen to see covered – just let me know! To start with, I wanted to bring up the issue of branding.

“Brand identity” has become something of a buzzword in business and marketing circles. But that doesn’t mean that the brand you establish for your own business isn’t really important. Years ago, countries and companies battled for land and resources. Today’s savvy, web-enabled companies are fighting similar turf wars, only now, it’s for a share of the consumer’s memory. With customers being exposed to literally thousands of icons, logos, product names, and promotions per day, having a memorable brand is key to your businesses success.

One of the challenges of establishing a strong brand identity is that it can take a lot of time and money. If you’re a start-up or small business, it might seem like an unnecessary added expense. But remember, if your brand isn’t memorable it will have a negative impact on all your future advertising and marketing efforts. People might love the new bus stop ad you put up, but they still might forget your company name or customer might buy a great sweater from you once, but not remember your URL when describing it to a friend who’s just paid a compliment.

Not all of us have tens of thousands of dollars to hire a branding agency. But what we lacked in dollars, we can commitin time and energy. If you follow the steps outlined below, you can make sure your company is memorable too.

1. Know the Brand Basics

First off, it’s important to know what a brand is. A brand is “the promise, the big idea, and the expectations that reside in each customer’s mind about a product, service, or company.” Your company’s mission, vision, ethos, unique selling points, customer satisfaction policy along with every interaction a customer ever has with you help define your brand. Everything you or your employees do can have an impact on that brand awareness.

Brand identity is the application of a brand that allows a customer to interact in some way. Your company name, logo, signage, packaging, marketing efforts, slogans, et cetera all inform your brand identity.

2. Research, Research, Research

Before you begin your branding exercise, you should conduct plenty of research – both about the competitive landscape and the goals and values of your own organization.

When conducting a marketing audit of your own business, compile or construct information that includes:

• Mission, vision, and values statements

• Value proposition (what is the unique offering of products/services that you are making available to consumers?)

• Organizational structure/chart

• Any business plans or strategic plans

• Existing marketing collateral and assets

• Any press releases or company-related media

• Organizational history

If you have this information in one place, you can easily review it during the branding process to ensure you’re establishing a brand that’s in line with what your company is all about.

Be sure to compile information on the competition so that you can a) be non-duplicative by establishing a unique brand, and b) avoid spending time and money on work that’s already been done. It’s important to know the following about the competition:

• Who are they? Compile a list of companies that offer similar goods and services to your proposed business. Be sure to identify indirect competitors too (e.g., if you sell ceiling fans, potential customers might be drawn away by discounts on air conditioning units).

• How are they branded? Create a list of all the company/product names and logos. Identify any similarities in words, colors, shapes, symbols, typography, etc.

• What are their key messages? Just as you’ve compiled your mission/vision, be sure you understand what’s driving the competition and how they’re presenting that to the rest of the world.

• What are they sending out? Gather as much competitive intelligence as you can by collecting marketing material including ads, brochures, flyers, coupons, website URLs, etc.

• What’s the consumer experience like? Whenever possible, play the role of a customer and see how the competition interacts with consumers. You don’t have to actually buy anything!

3. Design Your Identity

When you start to design your identity, a company and/or product name is the first step, followed shortly by a logo or graphic representation of organization or product. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and your logo is no different. It’s likely going to be the most memorable part of your brand that the customer will interact with prior to making a purchase.

When it comes to having your brand designed, you may want to consider this a major investment and spend money on a reputable designer with specific experience creating brands. You’ll save on costs if you’ve done your homework by researching the market and have a good idea how you want to represent yourself. The more details you can provide, the more targeted the first round of designs you get back will be. Focus your thoughts on shapes, color, and then content/text that you want your brand to convey. That’s the order in which most people recognize logos.

4. Put Your Brand to Work and Manage Assets

Once your brand has been designed, it’s time to make it work for you. In addition to the obvious applications in signage, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, and your website, you should think of creative ways to incorporate your identity into your business. If you have a physical location, this could mean using the colors in the logo when painting or decorating the space. If you exist online, incorporate design elements of your brand into email communications, customer receipts, and promotions. When you have the budget, custom packaging (boxes, shopping bags, etc.) can also be a great way to promote your brand.

There are also countless promotional items ranging from pens and mugs to calculators and other gadgets you can add your brand to. The key here is to select items that are going to be used over and over again (spend the money on a oversized coffee mug for a client gift rather than disposable water bottles) and that ties in to your business in some way (if you sell eco-friendly cleaning products, skip the branded sticky notes in favour of a reusable shopping tote).

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