Branding Your Business: Blow your business out of the water by getting a handle on your brand
Branding Your Business: Blow your business out of the water by getting a handle on your brand
Started on farms as a way to distinguish one cow from the other, branding helps create a distinct space for your business in the minds of your customers.
It’s all about longevity.
Every successful brand that I’ve seen has a brand character. A brand character is a set of human traits associated to a certain product or service. A brand’s characteristics often reflect the founder’s character, as in:
Richard Branson: Virgin (debunker of the establishment)
Anita Roddick: Body Shop (animal activist)
Jean Coutu: the Jean Coutu pharmacies in Quebec (the humanist)
Donald Trump: Trump Casino (larger than life personality)
However, the brand character can be unrelated to the founder’s as in:
Absolut vodka- artsy, stylish
Oakley sunglasses- cool
Diesel- a philosophy of life
W network- feminist
Then there are the brands with no clear established character, such as say, Reebok. In comparison, who do you see when you close your eyes and visualize Nike as a human being? An image of a hard core athlete probably pops into your head immediately.
By contrast, there’s a deep confused silence in all my workshops when I ask the same question about Reebok. Why is that?
In essence, a brand character is a product or service’s internal identity. All elements of the business strategy actually flow from this brand character. This is why branding is the most powerful concept in business. When focus and clarity is even more important to small businesses, having a brand character becomes even more crucial.
I’ll demonstrate the power of establishing a crystal clear brand character in a small business with a story about my client Ann*.
Ann had a small jewelry design business she was having difficulty growing. When I asked her what the human traits she wanted to associate with her jewelry line were, she said the following:
funky
40+ year old
successful
sexy
female
Her brand character was coincidentally the same as her target market.
I want to make a distinction here that the brand character and the characteristics of a business’s target customer don’t have to be the same. Take for example, the moving company “Two Small Men with a Big Heart’. Even though it’s a small company, almost everyone I ask remembers seeing this company’s name somewhere.
The brand character in this instance is:
humorous
generous
male
It is apparent from the brand name itself. On the other hand, the characteristic of the customer target might be:
female
25-30years old
wife of an executive
Do you see how different the brand characteristics can be from the target customer characteristics?
Back to Ann’s story, when I asked her to actually visualize a celebrity who had the same characteristics as her jewelry line, she thought long and hard for weeks. After 3 weeks, she finally came up with the name Susan Sarandon, the Oscar winning actress, as the perfect representation of her brand character.
Prior to this exercise, this was Ann’s business strategy:
Marketing vehicle: Ann had been using a blind (unaddressed) faxing service to mass fax black& white pictures of her work to offices in Toronto with zero returns.
Packaging: She was using clear plastic bags to deliver the product to the customer.
Pricing: She’d been selling her jewelry at rock bottom prices.
Distribution channel: She would sell at any shop that would take her jewelry, namely mom and pop stores.
Brand name: The name of Ann’s jewelry line was-- of course, called Ann Norton Designs since she thought that all big designers used their own name on their line.
Once Ann locked in on the representation of her brand character of Susan Sarandon, she saw that there was no consistency between how she was conducting her business and what she wanted her product to stand for.
This is how her business strategy changed:
Marketing vehicle: She invested in a stylish website and brochure.
Packaging: She promptly changed her packing to a polished mahogany box instead of the plastic bags.
Pricing: To absorb this increase in cost, as well as to reflect a higher quality, she increased her prices by 25%.
Distribution channel: She only targeted high end stores to sell her line. The mom and pops could no longer afford her goods anyway.
Brand name: Perhaps the biggest benefit of having crystallized her brand character was that the name of her brand became a more fitting and descriptive ‘Timeless’*
Armed with these changes, Timeless has grown into a successful brand that is now only sold at exclusive boutiques and online. Ann no longer wonders what colour to use on her business cards and what her pricing strategy should be. She just asks herself the question ‘what would Susan Sarandon say, do or be seen in or price herself at?’ and the roadmap to her business strategy is clear.
Here are some other examples of brand characters from clients I’ve worked with:
Brand Character Positioning Business
Inspector Gadget Curious Market Research Company
Picasso Unusually creative Graphic Design
Liz Taylor Opulent Import South Asian handicraft gift items
Jane Fonda Healthy&Smart Organic Snacks
Bill Gates Tech freak Digital Photography
Anne Geddes Innovative Baby Welcoming Places
Jerry Seinfeld Clever Freelance Illustrator
Mother Theresa Nurturing Tutoring
Martha Stewart Efficient Admin Services
Hulk Hogan Tough and durable Automobile Components
Mr. Clean Thorough Draft Detailing Services
Don’t feel attached to the actual celebrity, everyone has a different vision of what celebrity’s characteristics are. Most important in this exercise, is that you define the actual characteristics of your brand as any human and make sure you consistently act that way through all aspects of your business strategy.
So I ask you, what celebrity lies at the heart of your business and more importantly—are you being consistent in your business strategy?
With kindness as always,
Chala
*client information has been changed for confidentiality reasons
Branding Your Business Blow your business out of the water by getting a handle on your brand - To learn more about this author, visit Chala Dincoy's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Branding is perhaps the single most misunderstood concept I have encountered in business, especially in small businesses.
Started on farms as a way to distinguish one cow from the other, branding helps create a distinct space for your business in the minds of your customers.
It’s all about longevity.
Every successful brand that I’ve seen has a brand character. A brand character is a set of human traits associated to a certain product or service. A brand’s characteristics often reflect the founder’s character, as in:
Richard Branson: Virgin (debunker of the establishment)
Anita Roddick: Body Shop (animal activist)
Jean Coutu: the Jean Coutu pharmacies in Quebec (the humanist)
Donald Trump: Trump Casino (larger than life personality)
However, the brand character can be unrelated to the founder’s as in:
Absolut vodka- artsy, stylish
Oakley sunglasses- cool
Diesel- a philosophy of life
W network- feminist
Then there are the brands with no clear established character, such as say, Reebok. In comparison, who do you see when you close your eyes and visualize Nike as a human being? An image of a hard core athlete probably pops into your head immediately.
By contrast, there’s a deep confused silence in all my workshops when I ask the same question about Reebok. Why is that?
In essence, a brand character is a product or service’s internal identity. All elements of the business strategy actually flow from this brand character. This is why branding is the most powerful concept in business. When focus and clarity is even more important to small businesses, having a brand character becomes even more crucial.
I’ll demonstrate the power of establishing a crystal clear brand character in a small business with a story about my client Ann*.
Ann had a small jewelry design business she was having difficulty growing. When I asked her what the human traits she wanted to associate with her jewelry line were, she said the following:
funky
40+ year old
successful
sexy
female
Her brand character was coincidentally the same as her target market.
I want to make a distinction here that the brand character and the characteristics of a business’s target customer don’t have to be the same. Take for example, the moving company “Two Small Men with a Big Heart’. Even though it’s a small company, almost everyone I ask remembers seeing this company’s name somewhere.
The brand character in this instance is:
humorous
generous
male
It is apparent from the brand name itself. On the other hand, the characteristic of the customer target might be:
female
25-30years old
wife of an executive
Do you see how different the brand characteristics can be from the target customer characteristics?
Back to Ann’s story, when I asked her to actually visualize a celebrity who had the same characteristics as her jewelry line, she thought long and hard for weeks. After 3 weeks, she finally came up with the name Susan Sarandon, the Oscar winning actress, as the perfect representation of her brand character.
Prior to this exercise, this was Ann’s business strategy:
Marketing vehicle: Ann had been using a blind (unaddressed) faxing service to mass fax black& white pictures of her work to offices in Toronto with zero returns.
Packaging: She was using clear plastic bags to deliver the product to the customer.
Pricing: She’d been selling her jewelry at rock bottom prices.
Distribution channel: She would sell at any shop that would take her jewelry, namely mom and pop stores.
Brand name: The name of Ann’s jewelry line was-- of course, called Ann Norton Designs since she thought that all big designers used their own name on their line.
Once Ann locked in on the representation of her brand character of Susan Sarandon, she saw that there was no consistency between how she was conducting her business and what she wanted her product to stand for.
This is how her business strategy changed:
Marketing vehicle: She invested in a stylish website and brochure.
Packaging: She promptly changed her packing to a polished mahogany box instead of the plastic bags.
Pricing: To absorb this increase in cost, as well as to reflect a higher quality, she increased her prices by 25%.
Distribution channel: She only targeted high end stores to sell her line. The mom and pops could no longer afford her goods anyway.
Brand name: Perhaps the biggest benefit of having crystallized her brand character was that the name of her brand became a more fitting and descriptive ‘Timeless’*
Armed with these changes, Timeless has grown into a successful brand that is now only sold at exclusive boutiques and online. Ann no longer wonders what colour to use on her business cards and what her pricing strategy should be. She just asks herself the question ‘what would Susan Sarandon say, do or be seen in or price herself at?’ and the roadmap to her business strategy is clear.
Here are some other examples of brand characters from clients I’ve worked with:
Brand Character Positioning Business
Inspector Gadget Curious Market Research Company
Picasso Unusually creative Graphic Design
Liz Taylor Opulent Import South Asian handicraft gift items
Jane Fonda Healthy&Smart Organic Snacks
Bill Gates Tech freak Digital Photography
Anne Geddes Innovative Baby Welcoming Places
Jerry Seinfeld Clever Freelance Illustrator
Mother Theresa Nurturing Tutoring
Martha Stewart Efficient Admin Services
Hulk Hogan Tough and durable Automobile Components
Mr. Clean Thorough Draft Detailing Services
Don’t feel attached to the actual celebrity, everyone has a different vision of what celebrity’s characteristics are. Most important in this exercise, is that you define the actual characteristics of your brand as any human and make sure you consistently act that way through all aspects of your business strategy.
So I ask you, what celebrity lies at the heart of your business and more importantly—are you being consistent in your business strategy?
With kindness as always,
Chala
*client information has been changed for confidentiality reasons
Branding Your Business Blow your business out of the water by getting a handle on your brand - To learn more about this author, visit Chala Dincoy's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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