[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Last week while at a business event in Los Angeles, I had a lengthy discussion with a fellow entrepreneur about branding and the impact great branding has on a business‘ success. Florian, the founder of an online spices company he started in Germany, grew his business to eight figures in just four years. When I asked him why he believes his company became so popular so quickly, he promptly responded that the re-brand two years ago completely changed the course of his business. After the first two years, Florian decided to invest in a professional brand and things just took off.
As a result of the rebrand, his product became more appealing to his target market, the country‘s largest supermarkets took notice of him and soon his products hit the shelves.
Unfortunately too many small businesses ignore the fact that branding has a huge impact on the desirability of their products and services. Of course branding is not the magic pill, there is no magic pill in business or life, but it certainly helps in selling your stuff.
The difference between a business and a brand
Your brand gives your business a personality, a face so to speak. It‘s what people connect and fall in love with and ultimately become loyal fans of. It is what differentiates you from any other business in your industry.
A brand is a valuable asset and can add lots of money to your bottom line if created strategically as outlined in this article.
Your brand is your reputation, your identity, your image, it‘s what differentiates you. It‘s what makes people choose you.
You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.
David Ogilvy
Whether you are launching a new business or scaling up an existing one, you need a smart brand strategy followed by even better execution.
If you are ready to step it up a notch and play with the big boys, this step-by-step guide to creating a badass brand will help you do that.
A step-by-step approach to branding
As with anything, I‘m not a huge fan of writing a hundred page document nobody ever wants to read or look at, but I do believe in having a simple and smart brand strategy in place that gives your business focus and strategic direction.
Your values
The centre from which everything derives; your messages, your look, your identity, your communication.
Let‘s get started with your brand values. They are the essence or the heart of your business and will need to be reflected in everything you do.
They are like your compass, the non-negotiables guiding you in many business decisions. Make sure they are known not only to you as the business owner, but also by your team, your customers and any of your stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page and pulling in the same direction.
For each business we run, we work out different brand values depending on what we want to achieve, sometimes they overlap given that they are very much aligned with our personal values.
Here is an example of our values at Basic Bananas. This is what we stand for and is reflect in our very existence.
Generosity – A generous mind is a sexy mind
Fun – Fun is fun! Add a little bit of fun into everything you do
Innovation – Think differently and promote creativity, genius and innovation
Growth – Learn something new every day
Impact – Make a difference and create a ripple effect of awesome everywhere you go
Celebration – Celebrate your milestones, no matter how small or big
Now let‘s take a look at your brand personality.
Your brand identity
The first step in crafting your brand identity is to choose how you want to be perceived. Yep, it really is a choice! If you don‘t determine how your product, service or business is going to be perceived, someone else will and it might not be ideal.
I‘ve got two questions for you to determine your business‘ (and your own!) image.
The first one is ‘How do you want your business to be perceived?‘
This will help you define your brand‘s character or personality which forms the basis for influencing the perception others have of your business.
When describing your business use adjectives (descriptive words) such as young, old, fresh, modern, adventurous, analytical, safe, cheeky, energetic, vibrant, fast. The less conventional, the better, so stay away from the common words everyone chooses such as professional, quality, experienced.
Once you‘ve figured out your brand character, let‘s ask the second question ‘What do we want to be known for?‘ or ‘What do you want your clients to remember you for?‘
Narrow it down to one or two things because you can‘t be known for a million things. Imagine you meet someone at a birthday party and he tells you ten things about him, you‘ll most likely only remember one or two (depending on how many glasses of wine you‘ve had of course!)
Some examples include safety (think Volvo), performance (think Jaguar), fun (Virgin), customer service (think Zappos), happiness (think Walt Disney), creativity, innovation (think Apple), lifestyle, simplicity, education (think Basic Bananas).
Make sure you share the above with your team so they are all on board and pulling in the same direction. Your team are your biggest brand ambassadors (more on that in another article!).
Differentiation to blow your customers‘ minds
Now that you‘ve chosen how you want to be perceived, let‘s build on it! We live in a very busy world where we get bombarded by thousands of marketing pieces every day (unless we live on a beautiful remote island somewhere).
So how are you ever going to stand out? How is anyone going to notice you?
You need to differentiate! Unfortunately a lot of businesses copy each other plainly because they think ‘the other‘ guy has got it all figured out, but most likely he or she hasn‘t! Copying is never the answer and it‘s kind of uncool too.
So rather than blending in, let‘s carve out your own uniqueness. Or shall we say ‘disrupt‘ since it seems to be a very fashionable word at the moment. Either way, focus on blowing your customers‘ minds and they will become loyal and raving fans.
To do so, I‘ve got another two great questions for you. Someone smart once said the quality of life depends on the quality of your questions… or something like that. So here it goes.
Ask yourself ‘What are the frustrations in my industry?‘.
Think about what people are frustrated about when buying from someone in your industry.
Let me give you an example. A common frustration in the tradesmen industry is that the tradesperson often arrives late on the job. So one of my clients who is an electrician decided to create a ‘we are always on time‘ guarantee. If any of his electricians arrive late for a job, the client gets $50, even if he or she is only one minute late. It didn‘t take long for his business to create an awesome reputation!
The second question to ask yourself and others is ‘What would make working with a <insert your industry> irresistible?‘
You‘ll be surprised by how many great ideas you will get from your clients and friends! How about we set a challenge? Ask ten people in the next ten days and then implement the top three best ideas.
Your brand promises
Your brand promises are your core messages outlining what you promise your customers.
While your values are more about the ‘being‘, your brand promises are about the ‘doing‘. However, the two of them are very much interlinked.
When crafting your core messages, have your products or services in mind and think about how they add value to your customers.
Take what you‘ve brainstormed in the differentiation part above and put your uniqueness into short statements to be shared on your marketing pieces and with your team.
Here is an example of some of our brand promises at Basic Bananas:
A proven system and step-by-step approach to grow your business. Thousands of businesses have applied our frameworks and experienced amazing results.
Accountability & support encouraging you along the way through the ups and downs of business and holding you to a higher standard.
A community of like-minded people supporting each other.
Cutting-edge strategies and tools to be at the forefront of your industry and stay up to date with the latest innovations.
Customer loving at every interaction. We believe in blowing your mind with an incredible customer experience to make you smile.
Thinking big to help you achieve the impossible! We don‘t cry about what we don‘t have, we take action towards what we want to have.
And here is another example from our branding agency, The Business Hood:
Strategy – It all starts with a smart strategy. We help you create a proper brand strategy for your business to grow your impact.
Style – It‘s a given that attractive brands attract more business. We help you look good while you are doing good.
Story-telling – Every business has a story, we‘ll help you find yours. Helping your company discover and focus on its soul-purpose to make an impact.
Sustainability – We give a s*** about the world we live in and aim to add value at every interaction and with every action.
Ok, now you‘ve done the groundwork, let‘s ramp it up a notch!
Amplification
Amplification is the really fun part because you basically take what you‘ve figured out above and get it out there.
This is where you can get really creative and go completely bananas!
To get started, make a list of every touch point your business has with your prospects and customers. This could include phone calls, emails, social media, your shop or offices, your website, invoices, proposals, quotes.
Then think about how you can amplify your business‘ personality at each of these touch points.
Let me give you another example. If you‘ve chosen quirky as one of your characteristics, how can you add more quirkiness to your different touch points. You could include a funny quote in your email signature, change your phone greeting to something more quirky, adjust your website copy, send a quirky direct mail to your prospects, give your clients something to smirk about.
You get the point! The amplifying stage is continuous work and requires a bit of courage and thinking differently. Why not include your team as a brainstorming activity!
If you need help with your brand strategy, book in for a brand strategy session with the creative director at the The Business Hood.
Well done, you‘ve made it this far! It‘s time to execute your brand strategy, starting with your logo first.
How to get an amazing logo for your business
The first piece of the puzzle when it comes to executing your brand strategy is your logo. A great logo is crucial as it is the first piece of your branding and will dictate the colours, fonts, symbols and images you‘ll be using throughout your marketing pieces.
- Find inspiration: Before engaging and briefing a designer on your logo project, find images, logos, brands, fonts you like and are in line with your desired brand identity. This will help your logo designer to understand your preferences. You can find inspiration everywhere by flicking through magazines, Instagram and Pinterest, ‘googling‘ other logos and collecting images you like for your brand.
- Work with a professional: Please don‘t try to save money on your logo design. There are a variety of options out there ranging from a few hundred dollars (or even less) to a few thousand dollars. Unfortunately you do often get what you pay for. Having said that, you also don‘t need to spend thousands of dollars, just pick someone who is experienced in logo design. You can get a super professional logo and style guide for around $1800.
- Don‘t be a copy cat: Although I do encourage you to find inspiration in other logos, not just in your industry, I highly recommend staying away from copying others. Carve out your own stunning identity.
- Don‘t follow trends: Trends are ephemeral, hence there is no point in trying to be trendy. Instead go for timeless, something that stands the test of time.
- Test it with your ideal market: Once you have narrowed your logo concepts down to a few options, get your ideal clients to vote on their favourites. Don‘t drag this out too long though and don‘t get discouraged if one person doesn‘t like your favourite. It‘s just one person and there will always be someone who doesn‘t like it. Design is very subjective.
- Make sure YOU like it: The most important person to like your logo is you! Why? Because it is your business and you will be that much prouder and more excited to share it with the right people.
Brand consistency
Once you have established your brand essence, you have to make sure it is executed consistently across everything you do. Every touch point your customer has with you has to portray the same image in order to create familiarity.
The number of touch points someone needs before being able to purchase from you depends on their buying behavior, the urgency of the solution required and the nature of your business or products.
A great logo designer will also give you a style guide outlining the fonts, colours, imagery and logo variations so you can professionally execute your brand across different materials.
If you‘d like to speak to one of our brand consultants in our branding agency, The Business Hood, please email [email protected] or call 02 8417 8011.
Case Study: Oceanlovers
Let me share a practical example of the above steps executed for a new brand we launched a bit less than a year ago – Oceanlovers.
Before working with our brilliant branding agency The Business Hood, I followed the above steps and worked out our brand strategy, including our brand values, brand identity, differentiation and core messages.
I didn‘t have all the products figured out yet, but I knew exactly how I wanted the brand to be perceived.
Once I was ready to get our logo designed, I found inspiration in images I had collected over the years, fonts and other logos. I used Instagram to find additional imagery and brands I like.
One of our brilliant logo designers then went to work and because of the pre-work done (and because she is amazing), Kris nailed the logo really quickly.
We then designed and launched a website within three weeks and our wonderful social media manager who totally got the brand started growing a community on various channels. Within only a few months we had a few thousand followers on Facebook and Instagram and it just took off from there. The brand‘s quick popularity can certainly be attributed to its beautiful branding and the on-brand content that is getting published.
We are currently in the process of finalizing some of our new products, so please stay tuned!
Website – www.oceanlovers.global
Facebook
Instagram – @oceanlovers.global
Creating a beautiful brand is crucial if you want to play a bigger game. If you are happy to have a hobby business (and there is nothing wrong with that), then you can get away with average branding, but it never hurts to do a great job anyway.
It is also completely normal to re-brand your company every few years to stay current. The only constant in life is change, I know super cliché, but it also applies to branding, although I would call it more an evolution.
If it‘s time to give your brand a bit of a face-lift, you are welcome to talk to one of our brand consultants. [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]
Your Turn
- Download this worksheet
- Watch this video and fill in the worksheet
- Work with a pro to help you re-brand your business
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