culled from:urbanriver.com
1. Put your customers first
Identify who they are and how they think. What are the factors that
lead them to want your product or service? Now match your business
offering to their needs.
2. Brand identity
A strong element of how your company is seen by your customers, your
brand identity should remain consistent to reinforce your values
continually. This will help your customers make the decision to buy
from you instead of your competitors.
3. Positioning
The way you ‘position’ yourself in the market will determine how
customers think about your company in relation to your competitors – are
you price lead or quality driven? Whatever your chosen path, this
should be reflected in your marketing copy, images and materials.
4. Keep it simple
Keep names and straplines short, simple and consistent. Once chosen,
use the company name and strapline in every possible means of
communication to ensure future recognition and brand association.
5. Involve all staff
Your greatest ambassadors or your biggest weakness – how you involve
your staff in branding will determine how much they can help reinforce
that brand. Keep them updated, encourage involvement and ensure a
united front for the business. A cohesive staff team will appear
extremely professional and trustworthy to potential customers.
6. Develop a brand plan
Careful management of a brand on an ongoing basis will ensure the
brand remains strong, clear and unaffected by outside influences. Form a
plan to maintain brand values and ensure any changes are made in line
with brand values.
7. Consistency
A simple set of guidelines will ensure that everyone (internally and
externally) can apply your brand in a consistent manner. This is crucial
to ensure your potential customers develop a familiarity with, and
trust of, your brand.
8. Different media
Keep a close eye on the use of your brand guidelines across different
media such as newspapers, radio, print, website, social media and email
marketing. Size, colour and positioning of your logo is essential and
the correct use of these should be ensured at all times.
9. Review
Make sure all occurrences of incorrect branding are tackled as they
arise and the correct guidelines are understood for the future; nipping
such problems in the bud will avoid long-term damage.
10. Involve the professionals
While it’s tempting to enter into a spot of DIY branding this is
often not a good idea and can be costly in terms of time and money to
address at a later date. You may seek to employ a professional creative
agency to help establish the future brand security of your company.
