Business
Small Business Printing News
| Saturday, 01 November 2008 12:35 |
Be branded be the bestDoes your brand really sell your company? If not, you’re losing business. Print industry ‘imagineer’ Tony Kenton explains how you can put that right.“Once a company establishes brand loyalty, they come very close to making the competition irrelevant” Question: How do we make ourselves different in this competitive and crowded marketplace? Answer: Don’t sell the product, sell the brand. The speed of change, especially in the print industry, means that one day we are at the leading edge, the next we seem to be trying to catch up. The current evolutionary transition goes much deeper than just machinery or processes - it’s about the very nature of the way we do business. To prosper we need to do much more than cut prices or invest in new technology. It’s time to heed the sound bite: “we have to stop selling what we make and start selling what our customers need”. And what they need is a service that is different, that they enjoy using, has real benefits for them over other services and matches the image they have of themselves. Or, to put it another way, they are looking for companies that have a distinctive and understandable brand that they will buy into. Given that branding is such a powerful method of developing business, it’s amazing how misunderstood it is. Used correctly it can revitalise a business, create a sense of direction and enable customers to recommend it. The first thing we need to get clear is that a brand is not just a logo. The widely accepted definition of branding is: Branding is the way in which a company or organisation endeavours to differentiate itself positively from its competitors, using its relative company strengths to better satisfy customer needs and desires. Put more simply, a brand is a sincere promise made to customers. The important point being that a brand is not what we say but a measure of the experience of the customer. If they don’t believe in it, we haven’t got a brand! It is important to understand what branding really means to a business. The word ‘brand’ is derived from ‘to burn’, as in branding cattle, and that is precisely what a brand is meant to do, to burn the image (and message) of a company into the minds of potential and existing customers. When we think of companies that have developed famous brands, powerful mental images and strong psychological perceptions about those companies come to mind. These messages have helped the likes of Disney, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Nike define how we perceive them and their products. They have achieved brand identity and customer loyalty. When customers become loyal, they reduce their emphasis on price and convenience. Once a company establishes brand loyalty, they come very close to making the competition irrelevant. If, like many people, you thought branding was just for big companies, think again because branding help even the smallest of organisations succeed. Tom Peters, the well-known business guru, once said that: “Design and branding can turn the little fellas into high impact players…quickly…” If you feel it would be impossible for you to develop a brand because your customers would not be prepared to ‘play ball’ statistics clearly demonstrate that given the choice people prefer a branded product or service. One they know and understand. Don’t believe it? Then ask yourself why some people spend £400 on a pen - it’s certainly not because they want something to write with. They happily part with such monies because they want to feel that the brand represents who they are and says something about them. If we can create a brand that means something to our customers, not only will we see business grow, but get a lot more for what we do. So how do you go about rebranding? This question begs another – do you have a brand in the first place? Rebranding is not just a change of job description for the business, or a new company design, it’s far deeper than that. Branding is an undertaking to change everything. So does this sound like too big an undertaking, or too expensive, or you don’t have enough time to see it through, too complicated perhaps or you don’t know where to begin? You’ve likely said “yes” to all the above, which is why only a few companies ever accept the challenge. Even less succeed at it. But that’s good because it helps differentiate companies that do make the effort. Start by asking yourself a few key questions (see panel), such as what are the key elements of a brand? Think name, message, target audience, your graphics (including logo!) and method of communications. Also think patience. Typically, to fully establish a brand it can take years - four to six on average though benefits can start to roll in, in as little as six months. The payback on branding efforts varies from company to company. Some results I have seen have tripled or even quadrupled turnover, while with others have grown sales by 20% - 30%. It largely depends on the strength of the brand and how it appeals to customers. A successful brand doesn’t just help increase turnover - more often than not it increases the company’s worth. Finding help to get on the right road to better branding can be a hard slog. Generally though, you get what you pay for. Make sure that when seeking advice and support, you work with a person or a company that has experience in branding for the sector. Trade associations and the likes of Business Link can often point you in the right direction. Background reading will help. Developing a brand strategy can be one of the hardest steps a company takes, but it could help you create a company fit for the future. Ask the questions and know the answers If you want to create a business brand or change the one you have, the first step is to be aware of the full nature of what it encompasses. Below is a checklist of questions you need to answer before starting out. • What will our brand promise be? • When people think of the brand, what is the first thought I want them to have? • What are the tangible points of difference within this company? • Am I able to define the company’s Values? • What’s my company vision? (Does it match the brand?) • Exactly what do we do for our customers? • Why do people do business with us? • What is the culture of the company? • What are we proud of? • Are we taking a creative outlook? • Is our brand credible and honest? • Is it in keeping with market needs? • Will our brand be endemic throughout the positioning and strategy of the company? • Are we prepared to ensure that development of products and creative strategies are built around the brand? • Are we prepared to ensure that all our marketing materials convey the brand faithfully? • Does customer experience match the brand? • Does our brand capitalise on competitor’s weaknesses? • Can it be imitated? • Is the brand focussed? • Is it beneficial to customers? • Does the brand justify any value-added premium? (If not, there’s no point) • Have we got a strong ‘elevator pitch’ (A 15 second intro. to the company saying who we are, what we do and the benefits?) • Am I prepared to be an evangelist for the brand? (If you don’t believe in it, others won’t either). Tony Kenton can be contacted at Strategic Branding and Marketing for the Graphic Art and Print Industry. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (panel) That’s the way to do it Thinking inside and outside the box has never been a problem for complete print solutions specialist, Maincolour, as the Macclesfield company has proved in communicating a recent re-brand to its staff, customers and prospects. Marketing manager Mike White explains: “While Maincolour has always had an excellent reputation, we took a step back and agreed that the brand would benefit from a treatment that would remind people of the quality of our offering whilst also communicating the increased range of services we provide. In working closely with the design team at Through Creative, we have come up with both a refreshing new corporate identity and an innovative way of communicating it to our numerous stakeholders.” Having conducted a complete brand audit, a vibrant new identity was communicated first to the staff because as White acknowledges: “A company’s employees are its biggest advocates and we recognised the need to get our people onboard before rolling the changes out externally. The response was tremendous with everybody understanding the reasons for the changes.” Next came an innovative mechanism for communicating the changes externally - the creation of a boxed hardback puzzle book to accompany a series of colour-coded data-sheets explaining the various services offered. “Everyone is confident our clients now have a better understanding of our proposition and we’re looking forward to the future,” enthuses White. 
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