“If you build it, they will come.” — Field of Dreams, 1989
How does a brand begin? It actually begins with an idea or a dream, then it gets fueled by passion and (hopefully) turns into a plan that then becomes a reality.
Sounds simple enough, but when the nitty-gritty gets laid out, there’s a slim chance that the aspiring entrepreneur gets discouraged. Don’t be. If you have an idea for a business in which branding is needed, talk to us so we can map out how to go about it.
BizScale Branding is ALL YOU NEED
But first, let’s do definitions
Before we proceed, let us define terms you may encounter in the rest of this article or in future discussions about brand-building:
Brand
- a customer’s overall perception of your business (Fresh Sparks)
- an identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word, and/or sentence that companies use to distinguish their product from others (Investopedia)
Branding
- a marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol or design that is easily identifiable as belonging to the company (Brandingmag)
- a way of identifying your business. It is how your customers recognise and experience your business. (Business Queensland)
Brand strategy
- how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages (Entrepreneur)
- the blueprint for how you want the world to see your business (Fresh Sparks)
Brand identity
- the way that your business becomes recognizable. This includes your logo, colors and fonts, website design, content, advertising, print or packaging, and more. (Fresh Sparks)
- corresponds to the intent behind the branding and the way a company chooses its name, designs its logo, uses visual elements in its products and promotions, crafts the language in its advertisements, trains employees to interact with customers (Investopedia)
Brand marketing
- the way that businesses or organizations highlight and bring awareness to products or services by connecting values and voice to the right audience through strategic communication (Fresh Sparks)
- marketing in a way that increases brand awareness, promoting your products or services while putting your brand in the spotlight…marketing in a way that increases brand awareness, promoting your products or services while putting your brand in the spotlight (Tailor Brands)
In order for your business to scale, you need to turn it into a brand that becomes a top-of-mind, household name that earns strong brand loyalty among its customers. This way, your customers stay and you can keep working on acquiring or converting more.
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Why is branding important?
There are businessmen who fail to realize the importance of branding. Constraints with time and resources sometimes force them to go into business design and execution without giving ample time to strategy and building the pillars of the brand first.
If this is the case, the business can get “scattered” and unable to focus on its core — because its core was not defined in the first place. There is no anchor that holds it in place in case elements and situations make it drift from shore.
Branding is important because:
- It helps people recognize your business. Think of Nike, Apple, and Starbucks — they have worked on their branding so well that, even without the brand name, the logo is enough for one to know which brand they are looking at.
- It increases the value of your business as it grows and finds its niche in the market. When you’ve established your brand, for example, you can explore co-branding partnerships with other strong and trusted brands.
- It can help you get new customers. A brand is strong not only when it has lasted long but also when it has fostered trust among its customers. And when a customer trusts you, he will talk about you with and suggest you to others.
- It makes your employees proud. In its heyday, Yahoo! employees would wear Yahoo! shirts every Friday, called “Purple Pride Day.” It was a pun that worked and showed how fun working at Yahoo! was, and their employees did take pride.
- It helps you stay focused. This is a reiteration of what we said earlier in this section. Your brand is the anchor or guide that keeps you on your original path and plans. Your mission and vision keep you at your purpose.
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Okay, so where do we begin with branding?
The first thing to do, really, is to give the BizScale Branding team a call, tell us about your business, and what you need from us. Is it a new brand or a rebrand? We understand how all the moving parts work and we guarantee we have what you need.
Aside from this, you need to set aside at least an hour to think strategically on:
- How you define your brand. In doing so, you need to craft
- Your company's mission and vision
- The benefits and features of your products or services
- The existing perception of your customers of your company
- What emotions or visuals you want them to associate with your company
- A SWOT analysis of your business after you’ve done your competitor scan
- Your buyer persona or “a fictional customer but based on real data about your existing consumers coupled with market research” (Fresh Sparks)
- Your niche or the audience you will focus on
- Your logo. To quote Paul Rand: “Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”
- Your slogan or tagline that captures the essence of your brand
- Your brand personality because this will determine your brand voice
- Your business culture because this will share how your employees will work
- Your brand marketing or the ways you will tell the world about it
- Your purpose.
As Simon Sinek famously put it: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
What is your why?
If you don’t have the answer yet or you have it but don’t know what to do next, talk to us by completing the form on this page, emailing us at sales@bizscale.com, calling us at 833-722-5310, or booking time on Calendly right now. There’s no time to waste!
Sources
https://freshsparks.com/successful-brand-building-process/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand.asp
https://www.brandingmag.com/2015/10/14/what-is-branding-and-why-is-it-important-for-your-business/
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/branding-basics
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/77408
https://www.tailorbrands.com/blog/what-is-branding
https://www.paulrand.design/
https://simonsinek.com/
