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Building your brand!
By Ken Varga | June 26, 2009
I’m often asked the question, “How do I build my Brand?” My response often is, “What are you Building?” This really takes some thought.
You want your customers to remember the essence of your company, not just the image you give with your public face. For example the brand Coca Cola has a definite public image, but I often ask myself what is its essence.
Essence, I find, must come from inside a company. This oftentimes is expressed in your business and its core purpose.
You are building your brand on a daily basis whenever you interact with a customer, prospect, or in your networking.
When someone asks you, “What business are you in?” what do you say? Do you say “real estate”, the “insurance business”, or “I’m in retail sales?”
To illustrate, let me go over these three. Massage these to fit your business.
Real Estate: “I’m in the business of helping individuals build (find) their dream homes with creative financing.”
Insurance: “I’m in the business of protecting people’s life styles…for them and their family. I’m a Dream Doctor…I also protect their dreams.”
Retail Sales: “I create gourmet gift baskets that make people memorable when they give them.”
I can go on and on.
What business are you in?
Don’t define your purpose only by the products or services you offer. Rather, consider defining your company’s purpose in terms of what customer needs and benefits you provide. Answer the question, “What benefits does the customer receive from what you have to offer? Remember, a customer is always asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?”
When Western Union was founded, it was a telegraph company. I remember seeing the old ads where they showed miles and miles of poles with lines hanging from one to the other. Why are they thriving as a business today, without telegrams? Because, around 1980 or so, it started understanding itself as a “Money transfer” service.
Creating your brand may sound easy. It isn’t. It takes an awful lot of concentrated and continued effort. But done right, it’s worth it.
Topics: Branding | 1 Comment »
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
In retail, the essence of the banner (brand) is what the customer experiences in the store. Is it unique? Is it compelling? Is it memorable? For independent retailers, this is the key to creating differention, and being able to earn full retails and margins.
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