In April, we discussed using the start, stop, continue approach to cultivating the growth you want from your 2018 marketing plan. Good marketing begins with branding.
“Branding gives you an exceptionally effective way to broadcast who you are to your target market quickly and efficiently.”– Rick Haskins, MultiChannel News.
Therefore, start by determining who you are and who you aspire to be as a company. What is your vision? “A brand’s strength is built upon its determination to promote its own distinctive values and mission,” Jean-Noel Kapferer wrote in (Re)Inventing the Brand (2001).
Who you are should be based in part by what target customers want. What / who do your customers or clients need you to be? Therein lies the power of the branding exercise. With the right guidance and strategic partnerships, in working through the branding exercise you can determine what your brand should be, what makes the brand relevant to your target, and how to best describe its personality.
Branding Exercise Defines Key Brand Pillars
Great brands have three key attributes:
Conviction
Belief by everyone within your company that the brand is important and that the brand stands for a specific and important promise to the consumer.
Consistency
Imprint the brand into the essence of the organization so it comes alive for everyone it touches. Brand consistency equals earnings consistency.
Connection
Your brand must connect (through conviction and consistency) with target consumers to be effective. After all, as Zig Ziglar said, “If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”
Whether your company is established or new to the market, large or small, retail, direct buy, online or MLM, one of the most important things you can do to achieve growth is to create a strong brand. It is a critical component of any business.
Take the time to define your brand architecture. The exercise is valuable. We’d love to help define your company’s foundation.