Tweet

Small Business Brand Identity Strategies

Written by: Ellisa Brenneman

Article Overview: "Does a brand identity matter when you are a start-up?" Sleepless nights, a staff of three to do the work of 20, and the doubters will test your stamina to survive the start-up game. I suppose if it were easy, every person with an idea would be doing it. Start-ups require lots more than possession of an idea. They require an uncanny drive to succeed, a fearless spirit, a sense of humor and thick skin.

Small Business Brand Identity Strategies

"Does a brand identity matter when you are a start-up?" Sleepless nights, a staff of three to do the work of 20, and the doubters will test your stamina to survive the start-up game. I suppose if it were easy, every person with an idea would be doing it. Start-ups require lots more than possession of an idea. They require an uncanny drive to succeed, a fearless spirit, a sense of humor and thick skin.

Your company brand may be a mere seed in the beginning, but the day you open your doors for business, you've got at least two brands, 1) your start-up business brand, and 2) your personal brand, both equally as important.

Let's start with your personal brand. Will a serious vendor give you the time of day, when you are a small potato with little volume? Will your associates write angel-funding checks without a proven concept? Can you recruit great staff with no office and no benefit plan? Probably not -- unless you're personal brand is rock solid.

Make your personal brand a daily project of continuous improvement before you dive into the start-up business pool. Become an expert or seek advice from consultants such asEthos Mentor. Whether these are academic credentials or life achievements, have your story down, both in written form and be able to quickly articulate it in conversion. Package yourself, look like a successful trusted leader.

Fundamentally, your brand identity is the visual interpretation of your cause, business, or products. It is the way in which we recognize and distinguish one company from another. A brand identity typically consists of one or more of the following elements:

- a logotype (the typographic treatment of the business name)

- a logo (a graphic symbol or icon)

- a tagline (a short description, slogan or musical jingle)

- a color palette (one or more colors used highlight your identity).

Streamline your logotype. Is it hard to read? Is your typeface dated? Or maybe it's just non-descript and nothing special. A valuable logo deserves a refreshed color palette that pops. Does it scream the groovy seventies and you're a technology company? Or does it say plain Jane when really; your boutique sells the funkiest stuff in town?

If you don't have a tagline or musical jingle, create one. If you do, incorporate it into your brand identity. A creative tagline or slogan is another element of your identity to help the consumer connect with your brand. It may be a descriptive statement about the company's services (like FedEx's - Absolutely, positively overnight) or a call to action (like Apple's - Think different or Nike's - Just do it). Either way, it should be brief, memorable, and should speak to the essential mission statement of your organization.

Use it or lose it. Everywhere and anywhere you can. From the doormat, to the screensaver on the office computers, the logo and its elements should be used in a consistent manner, reflecting and reinforcing the brand identity.

Remember, your brand identity is the sum of all you do. It's what the market thinks, feels and expects. It's your purpose, competitive advantages, personality and promise. This is why brand planning and protection are so important in young companies. Unless you have a crystal ball, there are a lot of unknowns about the future of your start-up.

So, what is a sustainable brand identity? A sustainable brand identity includes ALL of the above "brand identity" elements plus a concept and design that is:

- unique and distinguishable; example, eco-friendly concepts add value

- efficient and effective in communication of key messages and personality stories

- used in a consistent manner throughout all visual marketplace touch-points

A sustainable identity is stylistically and functionally adaptable so it grows with you and your business. The sustainable brand is one that flourishes over time, across product lines and diverse multimedia platforms.

A sustainable brand identity is vital because it can help people to make an immediate connection with your product or service and then retain that connection building a relationship with loyal customers through good times and bad. This is often defined as customer relationship management (CRM).

In this age of technology and communication, we have a virtually unlimited selection of choices. There's little time to make a big first impression. A sustainable identity will communicate more efficiently and effectively your message. As a result, your brand identity will endure enabling your startup to achieve rich rewards.

Related Articles
  Everything You Do
  Get a Custom Logo Design and watch your Business Grow
  Harness the Depth of Power In Your Brand
  How Branding Can Lead to a Business's Success...or Failure
  Image Versus Identity

Article Tags: angel investors, business plan, business plan consultant, business plan consultants, business plan service, business plan services, business plan writer, business plan writers, business plans, custom business plan, custom business plans, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurs, ethos 360, ethos 360 solutions, ethos business solutions, ethos360, ethos360com, small business plans, venture capital, wwwethos360com



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Biz Plan Competition - i just wanted to say that posting Small Business Events on CanadaOne is a great resource. Thanks Julie!
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Intro to Search Engine Optimization

Selling What Sizzles vs. Delivering Real Value

The State of the Sustainable Furniture Industry

Suggestions

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.