BRANDING
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ESTABLISHING YOUR BRAND

Your brand is more than just a logo. It incorporates how your clients feel about you, the experiences they have had with your business, and what they can expect from you. Creating a brand identity for your business involves an exploration of your current situation as well as your hopes for the future.

Whenever your business and your public come into contact with each other, you have an opportunity to affect the brand perception of your business.

Some points of contact include:

            Logo on items
            Business card and stationery
            Web site
            Advertising and promotion
            Message on your answering machine
            Email address and signature message
            Personal Appearance
            Retail or mobile business appearance
            Signage
            Events
            Event sponsorship

In order to make the most of these points of contact, it is important to clearly communicate the elements of your brand to your target audience. This means more than spreading your logo and name around. It means identifying what you do best, how you can solve your client’s problem(s), and figuring out the best way to get that message across so that you stand out in a crowd.

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YOUR BRAND PROFILE

Use these questions to help you establish your brand profile. The answers will be particularly useful if you are trying to focus a business which is already established.

What services/products do you offer?

What are the core values of your business/services?
ie: trustworthiness, friendliness, expediency, etc.

What is your specialty?

Who is your target market?

Does your business have a tagline/what is it?

What message does the tagline send/need to send?

What is the personality of your business?
ie: formal, upbeat, friendly, low-key, high-energy, etc.

Do you have a logo or colors already associated with your business?

What do you want your audience to know and say about you?

How does your business solve the customer’s problem(s)?

What part of your business brings in the most money?

What part brings in the least?

What are your future goals for your business?

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD BRAND

A good brand delivers the following at all points of contact:

- presents a clear message about your business USP
- makes you look/sound credible
- evokes a (positive!) emotional reaction
- motivates the person to buy your product or service
- encourages loyalty to your business

Considering these issues will help create more effective advertising and marketing programs, which will contribute to the future success of your business.

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