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Branding for Small Business Owners More Difficult Than It Appears
A brand is a company's promise of value. It is often said that good brands have three primary characteristics: they are authentic, consistent, and differentiated. Of the three characteristics, staying consistent may be the hardest thing to do.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ, February 28, 2011 /Small Business PR News/ -- A brand is a company's promise of value. It is often said that good brands have three primary characteristics: they are authentic, consistent, and differentiated. Of the three characteristics, staying consistent may be the hardest thing to do.
The challenge resides with people and discipline. Unfortunately, as a firm grows it becomes harder and harder to keep your brand consistent since everyone needs to believe in and support the brand. All employees must sing the same song, so to speak. Small Business people must honor the brand by using the same tag line, by treating customers with a minimum of respect, by using the same logo, and by dressing appropriately in the work environment. In practice, it is a lot like herding cats.
"By discipline, I mean that people need to know what to do, and it has to start at the top of their company," states Rob Moser of Creative Caldron. Of course, the brand starts with the leadership of the company and the vision communicated. Yes, all employees need to on board with the company mantra. But, it goes beyond cheerleading and mission statements. Business people need to document the essentials of their brand, if they want people to honor the brand with consistency.
A company name, logo, and tagline must be consistently displayed on all customer-facing material. This includes business cards, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, website, invoices, fax cover sheets, and signage. Color communicates the brand's feel. Fonts need to be consistent across all of a companies marketing communications.
"Consider keeping a brand handbook since the brand's devil is in the detail." Continues Moser. A brand handbook captures and archives all of a company's branding elements including website colors, fonts, tag line, logo, stationery design, signage, graphics, background music, dress code, etc. The brand book can include instructions on how to answer the phone (and how not to answer the phone such as, "what's up dude"). All these things communicate a business brand and it is imperative that everyone in a company join in for a consistent brand.
A brand handbook can be helpful for communicating a company's brand essentials to new employees, while emphasizing its importance to the existing staff. It should be reviewed and updated as brand elements are updated or revised. Finally, this handbook must be distributed and read by all employees. States Moser.
Brands must be consistent if they are to be valued by a customer.
Rob Moser
rmoser@creativecaldron.com
PH: 480.626.0395
www.creativecaldron.com
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