How to Make Your Brand a Success

My friend’s two-year-old came up to me the other day and pointed out the “horsy” on her shirt. She proceeded to point out the same “horsy” on her dad’s shirt. Ralph Lauren is brilliant in that a two-year-old can recognize the ubiquitous Polo logo that has adorned clothes for several decades.

Just as you think “quality” with the Polo logo, “safety” is synonymous with Volvo and the word “commitment” is synonymous with Nike from the “Just Do It” slogan. These are just a few examples of effective branding, which is essential for all businesses because it helps bring value to your company by building customer loyalty and leveraging business relationships.

Branding is who you are and what you stand for. A brand is not just a promise, but a promise kept. It is the visual, emotional, and cultural image that people associate with your company or product.

There are many different elements of a brand for a company: advertising, community relations, public relations, business and professional associations, speeches, promotional materials, on-hold message, identity package, signage, Web site, and staff.

Developing a brand strategy doesn’t have to be complicated, but its objectives should reflect the profile of your organization and be simple so that the brand is understood and accepted by everyone. Your brand’s objective should also work to help build brand equity, which is the value associated with the brand by the consumer.

While having a brand is a critical component for any business, there are several factors that will determine a successful brand:

S – Strength of identity. Implement strategies and objectives that will give your brand a strong identity and set up a system to regularly evaluate its strength.

U – Use imagery effectively. Use professional quality imagery in your brand. Invest in a professionally designed logo and supporting collateral materials.

C – Consistency. Be consistent with your brand so that people know what to expect and are never disappointed. Ensure consistency between external and internal messages.

C – Candor and integrity. Be honest in what you are promising people.

E – Executive leadership. Strong leadership is imperative and will trickle from the top down. As banking pioneer Hugh McColl says, “Lead from the front.”

S – Solid relationships. Building relationships is an ongoing effort and is important in the branding of your company.

S – Support by all staff. All of your employees need to buy into your company’s brand in order to effectively support it. Therefore, it’s important to offer training, support and rewards that enable employees to “live the brand.” By generating support by your staff, they will in turn play a crucial role in helping your business maintain its brand promise.

F – Fulfill promise of brand. If you tout excellent customer service, then provide excellent customer service. If you promote quality, then offer quality. Remember, a brand is not just a promise, but a promise kept.

U – Uphold a distinctive organization culture. This is the personality of the organization and is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs of organization members and their behaviors.

L – Look for opportunities to continually build your brand—it’s a never-ending process.