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During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a rancher would
mark his cattle with a brand. This brand, depicting an image
unique to his ranch, distinguished his cattle from another’s
in the event of a broken fence. Branding, in today’s
modern marketing world, operates much the same way. It seeks
to distinguish a product or service from the competition and
create a lasting impression in a prospect’s mind.
Pay dear attention to your branding programs from the outset
because they work to strengthen the “link of trust”
between your company and its buyers.
Shaping your brand image
To start, consider first the personality of your company.
Is it sexy or sweet? Tough or tender? Is it more like John
Wayne or George Clooney or Andy Griffith? And if you think
all this is hooey, consider these questions: Do Marlboros
really taste better than other cigarettes? Is H&R Block
superior to the tax accountant down the street? No, but a
big reason these companies are leaders is because they’ve
successfully built a personality around their brands.
Name; The first step
How different would you be if your name was Clem or Matilda?
Your company name sets a tone for your brand, right from the
start. Names can be generated from invented words (Xerox),
initials (IBM) and founder’s names (Johnson & Johnson).
Some of the best names though communicate a benefit (U-Haul
or Budget Car Rental).
Logo; Your company’s symbol
A logo is a distinctive symbol or mark that visually represents
your company. To get one that passes muster with the quality
police, I recommend hiring a design firm. Because your logo
is one of the first visual brand elements your buyers see,
put some time and money into it.
If your logo will appear on fax cover sheets, fax it to
yourself. If it will appear on billboards, enlarge it to 5
feet and see what it looks like (don’t laugh, I actually
did this for a client). Put your logo through the quality
checking paces before you use it. You’ll be glad you
did.
Taglines; A memorable definition
I’m a big believer in taglines. In 10 words or less
a good tagline can communicate the core essence of a brand
to the market. And for small businesses, it can be one of
the most efficient marketing weapons in their arsenal.
A tagline is simply a short description of a business’
reason for being. It could incorporate elements of its expertise,
its target audience, even the markets it serves. A tagline
can be both direct and subtle—whatever it takes to get
the prospect to say to themselves “Oh, I get it.”
If you’re unfamiliar with taglines, work with a copywriter
or marketing consultant. In an hour or two, they can take
the core essence of your company’s brand and translate
it into a memorable and pithy tagline.
Once you have a tagline, always connect it to your logo
as a standard practice. Either place the tagline below your
logo or alongside it. But, whenever your logo appears, your
tagline should there with it.
Fonts and typestyles
Using the proper fonts and typestyles also define your brand.
Try to standardize fonts and typestyles that appear routinely
in your marketing materials. Use only a select few.
Hint: If you’re working with an advertising agency
or marketing firm, make sure their designs use fonts that
are readily available. A client of mine once worked with a
designer on some marketing materials. The problem was the
designer chose a very creative font that ended up also being
hard to find. In the end, the client had to shell out hundreds
more dollars to buy the font for its printer because they
did not have it.
Colors: Creating a mood
How do you feel when you walk into a yellow room? When you
see a sign with a red background color, what’s your
first reaction? Colors generate emotional reactions, and it’s
important to carry that over into your branding program.
So, here is a quick list of common colors and the emotions
behind them:
| Color |
Emotions behind the color |
| Red |
Stop, passion |
| Yellow |
Caution, cowardice |
| Green |
Go, safe |
| White |
Purity, virtue |
| Black |
Luxury, prestige |
| Blue |
Authority, calm |
| Orange |
Strength, stimulation |
| Brown |
Warmth, comfort |
When deciding on your company’s color, pay attention
to the colors used by your competitors. You don’t want
to shoot yourself in the foot by choosing a color already
associated with your competitor.
The sounds of your brand
One company I call on the telephone plays rap over its on-hold
system. I don’t know about you, but I believe there’s
more to music than 3 bad chords and rotten lyrics. I hate
being on hold with that company. And their relationship with
me suffers ever so slightly each time I call. If your business
has on-hold messaging, or your retail store has background
music, make sure it’s appropriate.
Publish some guidelines
As your company grows, consider developing a brand manual.
It can be as simple as a 3-ring binder that records how you
want brand elements to appear. It should cover the use of
your logo, type sizes/fonts/styles, guidelines for color or
black and white, and where certain brand elements should be
located on the page or screen.
This is a great resource for internal staff to follow and
can also be used for new employee training.
Remember…
Your brand shows up in a wide variety of marketing vehicles.
To help you identify all the places your brand can be found,
I’ve developed a comprehensive Branding Checklist. For
a free download, click
here.
In the end, hold your branding efforts to the highest standard
possible. Spend a little extra to keep your brand high-quality
and consistent across your company. Your customers (both current
and new) will thank you for it.
Author Bio
Jay Lipe, aka the “Plan Man”, is the CEO of
Emerge
Marketing; a firm that helps growing companies improve
their marketing. He is the author of the book The
Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses (Chammerson
Press) which is available at major bookstores and online
at www.amazon.com.
He is also a sought after speaker and seminar leader, and
can be reached at (612) 824-4833 or lipe@emergemarketing.com
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