Defining Your Brand
How well do you know your brand? How easily could you communicate what it is to someone else? Do you define your brand in terms of aesthetics or values? What's even the difference between brand and branding? It's time to get to grips with the basics of defining your brand!
Brand is not the same branding!
Branding is what you do, your logo, what you look like and your tone. It’s a marketing tool. Brand is the end to end system of your revenue stream. That means the vision, the reasons behind what you’re doing, everything you design, what partnerships you create and so on.
BRAND (noun)
- What you do or make
- How you describe yourself
- The company's personality
- How people identify and remember you
BRANDING (verb)
- Visual elements e.g. logo, fonts, colour scheme
- Verbal and written tone
- Implementation of the brand strategy
- Positioning of your company in the market
By defining what your brand is, you create the foundation for all other components to build upon. It then serves as a measuring stick for evaluating all marketing strategies. With a clear definition of your brand, your entire organisation effectively works towards achieving the company's greater purpose.
The Basics of Defining Your Brand
"People believe in brands with story and authenticity. Whats your story and how do you turn it into a brand? Better yet, how do you permeate that brand and mission in every element of your business, from your tone of voice to your colour palette?" - Sharmadean Reid, WAH.
- WHAT… are your company's Core Values? Use your vision statement to help. Create an identity and think about what keywords describe your company. Ask others what adjectives they associate with you.
- WHO… is your Target Audience? Who you are should be based to some extent on who or what your customer needs you to be.
- WHERE… is your Position in the Market? What makes you different and sets you apart from your competitors. Remember, your USP needs to be 10x better than anything already out there. That's your competitive advantage!
- WHEN … will you Achieve your Goals by? Identity the goals you want to achieve for your brand and plan a timeframe for targeting each one.
- HOW … do you Keep it Consistent? Strategic branding helps to create a strong brand. Make sure everything you do, from decorating your office to way you conduct yourself at events aligns to your original goals and values.
To sum up…
Build your business from the top-down! Those that grow the fastest are brand-led so take time to build what you are, what you’re not, what you stand for and then drive it through your entire company!
For more information on taking your brand to the next level, READ ‘Brand Famous’ by Linzi Boyd and WATCH her FGC talk about ‘Using Your Vision to Build Your Brand’.
