CREATING A BRAND
Your customers may skew toward certain demographic or
OBJECTIVES: Building your Brand
1. Understand basics of branding
2. Discuss about creating a brand
3. Explain how to manage the brand
4. Promote your brand
5. Discuss about extending the brand
6. Analyze budgeting for a brand
SUCCESSFUL BRANDING: Entrepreneurs
Successful branding is the key to outdoing competitors
and creating customer loyalty. It requires careful consideration of
your mission, creative thinking and a strong desire to connect with
the people who will ultimately make your company successful.
LOGO
Logo is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid
and promote public recognition.
There is more to your “brand essence” than just your logo
and a snappy slogan. Your brand is the entire sum of what your
company does, what you excel at and the experience your
customers have with you. It determines whether customers join
your loyalty club and refer you to friends—or don’t bother with
you again.
GUIDELINES: Building a Strong Brand
1. Know specifically why you are in business
2. Clearly define your brand promise
3. Target whom you want to serve
4. Be honest and authentic about who you are
5. Differentiate yourself from the competition
6. Keep your messaging and visual identity professional and
consistent
7. Create a dialogue with your customers
8. Give Customers a Great Experience at every Point of Contact
9. It is Easier than You Think
 Know specifically why you are in Business
In today’s competitive marketplace, you do not want to
be a “jack of all trades, master of none.” While it may be tempting
to offer clients a wide menu of products and services, it is
important to keep your brand focused.
Specializing in one thing allows your small business to
stand out in the market. Being an expert in what you do, and doing
it better than anyone else, helps the marketplace see you as the #1
source. Your customers have specific needs, wants, values and
characteristics. Ensure your brand lets them know you understand
them, and can serve and satisfy them.
 Clearly define your Brand Promise
Brand Promise is the statement you make to your
customers and target audience that lets them know what to expect
every time they interact with you and your employees, products
and services.
A brand promise is based in reality, and it is something
you can prove. It is grounded in your company’s culture,
philosophy and atmosphere. It reflects how you serve your
customers and deliver value to them; how you make a problem
they have go away; how you make their lives better.
Your brand promise is why they cannot do without you
and would never go anywhere else.
 Target whom you want to serve
socioeconomic groups.
They may share a particular problem, interest or need.
Your brand needs to connect with these people. They are your
target audience, the consumers you specifically aim to serve.
 Be honest and authentic about who you are
Your brand has to talk the talk and walk the walk.
Otherwise, you will present yourself inconsistently and confuse the
marketplace.
If you have clearly defined your audience and what sets
you apart, authenticity should come easily. Do not be hip and
casual if that is not who you are, or if that is improper for the
service you provide.
 Differentiate yourself from competition
Knowing what you do best and being able to convey that
to your target audience means knowing what you are up against.
With that in mind, you must be aware of your strengths
and your weaknesses. Learn how to accentuate the former and
how to address the latter—or, even turn those weaknesses into
positives.
 Keep your messaging and visual identity professional
and consistent
From business cards and logo to email newsletters and
brick-and-mortar signage, all of your printed communications and
sales materials should look, feel and sound like they come from the
same source.
In terms of messaging, reuse key phrases that are your
unique selling points, whether they are used in your brochure, on
your website or in ads.
Put your company slogan or tagline on everything—it is
your brand promise boiled down to a catchy, memorable phrase.
Ideally, your brand’s visual appearance and messaging:
Reflect your brand’s personality and voice.
Set you apart from the competition.
Appeal to your target audience.
Command attention.
 Create a Dialogue with Your Customers
Sure, you talk to customers when they come in, call or
email. That is a conversation. But conversations end. Dialogues are
ongoing.
 Give Customers a Great Experience at Every Point of
Contact
In our digital age, it is both easier and harder than ever to
reach your customers. They are only a click away, but they may
never meet you face to face.
Make customer service a core value at all levels of your
business, and become known as a brand that delivers a terrific
experience. Your customers will reward you.
 It is Easier than You Think
These tips may seem to take a lot of effort. At the outset
of establishing and building your brand, you might have to do a
little homework.
Once you get going, though, it gets easier, more routine
and more instinctive—as long as you know your market, trust your
intuition, maintain consistency and be yourself.