Brand Matters
Brand Matters
It’s very difficult nowadays to come up with a product, service or solution that is totally new, truly unique and perceived by the prospect or customer to be the only solution to his or her problem. If you do manage to, you can bet your boots it won’t be long before the nub of your idea is copied and the competition is up and running and possibly undercutting your price too.
So how can you protect your business and profitably win, grow and keep your customers when, to all intents and purposes, it’s a jungle out there?
We are not going to get all tied up in fancy marketing speak, there are plenty of books and courses around on the subject already, but you would have to be living well and truly in the dark ages not to have heard terms such as "mission", "vision", "brand value" and the like.
Big corporations pay huge amounts of money developing the "brand" and equally vast amounts to lawyers if they think someone is infringing on it.
The fact that you are not in the same league as BP, General Electric, IBM, Vodafone, Cisco et al shouldn’t put you off investigating what could be in this for you. It’s worth taking some time to think about what makes your business offer different from any other.
Core values.
In order for your business brand to mean anything you have to endow it with core values.
So first stand back and clarify your own personal values. Then write your personal mission statement, incorporating your core values, in the present tense. Then apply those values to your business.
You can build genuine, enduring differentiation of your business brand by giving it explicit core values, and endowing it with a distinctive and attractive personality that makes your customers think, for example, "I like these people. I know where I stand with them and they deliver their promise. They treat me like an intelligent individual, not some moron. They understand and care about my (business) needs and I can trust them."
An important point here: We’ve all heard the phrase "singing from the same hymn sheet" or similar and, trite though it often sounds, it’s vital to ensure that anyone who works for or with you also believes in, and is committed to these core values.
I wonder how many lower echelon employees of corporations know, understand and work to the core values of their companies. You may think it’s not so important, provided they are not customer facing. But if a customer is let down as a result of something one of your employees does or does not do, it reflects badly on the whole organisation and you.
Mission statement
Now you’re ready to write your business mission statement. It’s worthwhile taking time to get this absolutely right as it doubles very nicely as an elevator pitch (a succinct and descriptive account of what your company does).
The key to how valuable this exercise can be ultimately rests on:
1) How much you really believe in your company’s core values and mission statement.
2) How closely you will stick to them when conducting business with your clients or customers.
Brand Matters - To learn more about this author, visit Linda Mattacks's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The way you position your brand is fundamental to your ultimate success so it's vital that you get it right.
It’s very difficult nowadays to come up with a product, service or solution that is totally new, truly unique and perceived by the prospect or customer to be the only solution to his or her problem. If you do manage to, you can bet your boots it won’t be long before the nub of your idea is copied and the competition is up and running and possibly undercutting your price too.
So how can you protect your business and profitably win, grow and keep your customers when, to all intents and purposes, it’s a jungle out there?
We are not going to get all tied up in fancy marketing speak, there are plenty of books and courses around on the subject already, but you would have to be living well and truly in the dark ages not to have heard terms such as "mission", "vision", "brand value" and the like.
Big corporations pay huge amounts of money developing the "brand" and equally vast amounts to lawyers if they think someone is infringing on it.
The fact that you are not in the same league as BP, General Electric, IBM, Vodafone, Cisco et al shouldn’t put you off investigating what could be in this for you. It’s worth taking some time to think about what makes your business offer different from any other.
Core values.
In order for your business brand to mean anything you have to endow it with core values.
So first stand back and clarify your own personal values. Then write your personal mission statement, incorporating your core values, in the present tense. Then apply those values to your business.
You can build genuine, enduring differentiation of your business brand by giving it explicit core values, and endowing it with a distinctive and attractive personality that makes your customers think, for example, "I like these people. I know where I stand with them and they deliver their promise. They treat me like an intelligent individual, not some moron. They understand and care about my (business) needs and I can trust them."
An important point here: We’ve all heard the phrase "singing from the same hymn sheet" or similar and, trite though it often sounds, it’s vital to ensure that anyone who works for or with you also believes in, and is committed to these core values.
I wonder how many lower echelon employees of corporations know, understand and work to the core values of their companies. You may think it’s not so important, provided they are not customer facing. But if a customer is let down as a result of something one of your employees does or does not do, it reflects badly on the whole organisation and you.
Mission statement
Now you’re ready to write your business mission statement. It’s worthwhile taking time to get this absolutely right as it doubles very nicely as an elevator pitch (a succinct and descriptive account of what your company does).
The key to how valuable this exercise can be ultimately rests on:
1) How much you really believe in your company’s core values and mission statement.
2) How closely you will stick to them when conducting business with your clients or customers.
Brand Matters - To learn more about this author, visit Linda Mattacks's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
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 |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Linda's articles
 |
|
Small Business Training - Training for small businesses and learn how to stand out from the crowd!
|
|
 |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 The Leader’s Edge Pump Up Your Calendar Power of Concentration The Idea Compass Leadership Audit For Business |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009 | |
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
