5 things to avoid when creating a brand

FIVE PITFALLS TO AVOID IN CREATING A BRAND—A SUCCESSFUL BRANDING CAMPAIGN TAKES TIME, PREPARATION AND A LOT OF ORIGINAL THINKING

Building a new brand from the ground up isn't easy. But a strong brand is important. To be most effective in your new-business efforts, your brand should project expertise, confidence, professionalism and security. What's more, prospects and clients should experience your brand consistently at all times, from their first encounter as a prospect to their most recent client meeting.

If you have been in your industry for many years and are now revisiting the state of your brand because you realize that it doesn't adequately reflect who you are and what sets you apart from your competition, don't despair. Brands can be relaunched if the job is done right.

Preparation is everything. To grease the wheels a bit, I've identified five common pitfalls in building or rebuilding your brand and how to avoid them.

1. The fast follow. Too often, business managers believe that if they do everything their biggest competitors do, they'll be successful. To be sure, following successful operational practices makes sense, but following another firm's branding or marketing strategies doesn't. Branding is one area where you should stand out.

Consider the branding of Apple Inc. The company's success came not from doing what other computer companies did but from forging its own idiosyncratic path. It took risks, innovated, shocked and surprised the public. Sure, ideas it tries aren't always a success, but many of those ideas have made huge waves.

While, for instance, financial services may not provide the same kind of breeding ground for new products as the computer industry, positioning yourself a little bit differently will set you apart from the competition.

2. Designing for yourself. Your brand should reflect who your firm really is—and yes, you as an owner, are a part of its identity. But when you rely on your personal preferences rather than considering what's most important to your current clients and prospects, you wind up designing a brand for yourself, not one for your organization.

To avoid this trap, you've got to approach things from the perspective of the customers. In fact, you must find out what they think. Use a third-party resource to conduct interviews with your customers or, if you're willing to be quiet and listen, ask them yourself. What do they consider your firm's strongest attributes or characteristics? What, in their minds, sets you apart from other competitive firms? Design a message around these elements, and you will construct a brand that accurately represents what your firm stands for.

3. The speed demon. When approaching many tasks, including marketing and branding, many owners just want to “get it done.” The speed demon tries to move too fast at the beginning of any brand-related program. Without the experience or foresight to understand how crucial foundational decisions will affect every subsequent effort down the line, the speed demon is setting himself or herself up for failure. A branding initiative that is rushed and treated carelessly will produce only substandard results.

To avoid rushing and making a mistake, treat this process with the respect it deserves; it's an easygoing, long-distance run, not a sprint. You will be more efficient and effective later if you spend the time upfront to create clear direction, alignment and consistency.

4. The art director. Since everyone believes they have good taste, it's only natural that business owners feel they can design their online and print materials better than anyone else. Usually, this isn't the case. Hire professionals and then let them do their work. Provide guidance, but don't be the brain and hands to execute the work.

Your job in all of this is to provide the artistic and creative people with all the information about your business they need to know to get the job done. Make sure they understand what you do, how you do it and what differentiates you from others.

5. The passive observer. Once your creative team produces designs, copy and materials, provide clear, specific responses. “It's just not right” or "I'll know it when I see it" are not helpful, and sending the creative team back to do more work without clear direction is inefficient, and a waste of time and money.

To ensure a better result, be direct and decisive about what you want—and what you don't want. The process should be collaborative, but it's your brand, and you want the end product to be an accurate, powerful representation of your firm.

Building a solid brand takes time and attention. Expect a few bumps along the way, but do it well, and your prospects and clients will think they've just arrived at The Four Seasons.

Why are you here?

WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY SO SPECIAL? BEING ABLE TO DEFINE YOUR PURPOSE IS THE FIRST STEP IN BUILDING A GREAT BRAND

Pop quiz: Who are you? What do you do? And why is it important? In other words, why does your company matter? 

The first two questions are relatively easy. You should be able to give confident, concise answers in simple terms and break down any complexities into concepts that are easily digestible by your audience.

The last question is a tough one.

Almost everyone can tell you who they are and what they do — but what makes them special? What makes them relevant? What is their purpose? To reach your full potential, you need compelling answers to all of those questions, but especially to why you matter. Your audience is searching for reasons to trust you and connect with your firm. Without purpose, you will never build the kind of loyalty truly great brands inspire.

By building an authentic, successful brand for your firm, you will find your place in the market and be able to assess how you stack up against the competition.

KEEPING PROMISES

The most important thing to understand about your company's brand is that it isn't about who you think you are; it is about who they think you are. They are your clients, the people you want to be your clients and the people who support your competition.

If there is any inconsistency between what your firm says, how it acts and the outside world's experience, you have a problem — you aren't fulfilling your promise. And it may be time to invest more in your brand.

If you break it down, that is what a brand is: a promise. In days gone by, it started with a handshake — it meant something. You can put a great deal of well-intentioned work into building a splashy identity, but if you don't fulfill your promise, that effort doesn't matter much. Your audience will move on to a company that keeps its commitments — to a brand that they can trust.

FOCUSED VISION

If you don't know where you are going, the chances that you will end up where you want to be aren't good. You need a destination.

You should have a focused vision for your brand, with a definition for success and clearly stated goals. You also need solid strategies and tactics in place so that you aren't trudging along without a plan — or much hope — for actually achieving your goals.

Keep in mind that the bottom line isn't the only way to measure success, though it is often a reflection of it.

Creating a definition of success beyond profit margins for your firm — whether that means upholding customer care and community relationships, charitable giving, sustainability or ethics and social justice — is empowering and important in today's marketplace. It not only gives a greater sense of purpose to your work (i.e., reasons why you matter) but also provides touch points for your audience to connect with your firm, based on shared values.

SAY 'CHEESE'

Asking these kinds of questions — and seeking out honest answers — will result in a more precise snapshot of how your firm is perceived. The goal is to form a solid awareness of how your audience sees you, versus your competition, and where any shortcomings exist so you can, in turn, build long-term momentum.

This honest appraisal and understanding should be the foundation on which you develop your brand. Without it, you are building on quicksand and gambling based on guesses.

There isn't a business school in America that teaches the “best guess” methodology for success, and there is a reason for that.

Elevating your brand requires you to be smart — not reactive. That means being disciplined and staying committed to your guiding principles.

If you take this approach, you will be able to make strategic, informed decisions that reflect who you are, what you do and why you matter — decisions that help you earn loyalty by keeping your promise with integrity.

Know your audience

KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE IS KEY FIRST STEP IN MARKETING: UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANT CLIENTS WILL PROVIDE CLUES ON HOW TO APPROACH OTHERS LIKE THEM

Communication is a tricky thing. You can craft a beautiful story and tell it eloquently, but if you aren't speaking to the right people—in a language that resonates—those who matter the most won't hear what you have to say.

Every business relies on building and maintaining trust to grow. That makes connecting with your audience in positive, thoughtful ways absolutely crucial.

Also critical to your success is clear, consistent, audience-appropriate communication. But before you can get your message across, you have to know exactly who it is that you are trying to reach.

Do you even know who your audience is? Not who it was before the recession, the rise of Facebook and smart-phone mania—but who it is today?

A lot has changed. Since the global economy hit the skids in 2007, people are living, spending, saving and thinking differently.

PERMANENT CHANGES

Research shows that these will likely be permanent behavioral changes. Technology has made working from our pocket seem less like a concept from “Star Trek” and turned it into an absolute necessity for today's business professional.

Don't make assumptions. One bad piece of business can take up as much time as five good ones.

Constantly review your customer roster to help determine what you consider ideal, common characteristics. disposable income? Color preference? Shared values? Level of sophistication and an appreciation for what you do? If these are your best clients you should know them.

Partner with professionals in complementary industries. When someone else shares your view of the world, they will certainly help spread your good word.

Invest in good research, and leverage the qualities of your top clients to be sure that you are targeting the right customers for your company. Remember: It has as much to do with who they are as what your company values and offers.

Once you have determined who your key customers are, you need to get to know them in ways that go much deeper than ever before. You need to understand their drives, their goals, their motivations, how they make lifestyle decisions, what is ultimately important to them, what they have in common and what factions exist within that group.

Blanket broadcasting is an inefficient way to use your resources. People don't want to be painted with a broad stroke. They want you to get personal and to speak to them specifically in the company's communication effort. This also means different methods for different recipients.

Guessing who your audience is, how they have evolved and where they now operate is just lazy. It is certainly not going to garner you new business, and it isn't going to help you retain your current customers. You will lose.

STRONG MESSAGE

If you understand the people or organizations that you want to reach, you already have a good base for developing a strong message. If your audiences are the kind of people who have plunged full-force into adoption of mobile applications, perhaps that is an arena that your firm should understand better and consider participating in.

Or maybe your audience still doesn't spend much time online and you need to develop ways of reaching them that doesn't rely on computers and smart phones.

Whatever the case, the places where your audience hangs out and the tools that they use in their daily lives give you clues about how they want to be approached and what they will take time to listen to.

Knowing who you are looking for and what matters to them is just the starting point. Use that information to give your audience what they need, where they want it.

Suddenly building trust and creating clarity in who you are, what you do and why you matter becomes much easier to do.

Your audience is thinking, “Wow, they really are talking to me and understanding my values—they get me.” This is infinitely preferable to getting passed over because your company is projecting an image that is completely out of touch with the realities of people's everyday lives.

Communication can be tricky... It can also be perfectly effective.