Effective brands aren't built overnight. It takes time to develop an authentic, integrated, and memorable experience fo your customers.
And it's incredibly important to make this investment in your brand. It's a powerful driver for your marketing and crucial to the long-term success of your business.
Part of the reason organizations, large and small, struggle with branding is that they equate their brand with a logo. They make the mistake of putting all their branding eggs into the logo basket, investing a great deal of time and money trying to design the perfect icon. But if they don't build meaning beyond that little symbol, it falls flat. A well-designed visual identity can be an important part of your story, but it is just that: one part. There's much more to building a strong brand than creating a logo.
How to you begin to build your brand?
The first step is to identify your unique brand attributes or qualities. You need to develop a short list of words that accurately reflect who you are and what you do. Ask your employees to come up with a list. Do the words match? Ask your very best clients to list your attributes. Is your image of the company in sync with your customers' perception of your brand?
The next step is to move beyond just a few words and try to capture the comprehensive feeling, character, or personality your brand conveys.
Each company creates a unique image and perception it wants to convey. And you can bet that all of their marketing activities, from PR and website design to trade show booths and in-store displays, are also designed to reflect these brands they've worked so hard to build. And if not, they should be.
Source: "Propel: Amp Up Your Marketing" by Whitney Keyes