What Is A Brand?

By technical definition a brand is a name, sign

, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service, or business.

This hardly describes what successful branding means to a business. A strong brand is recognizable by the consumer and stronger brand causes a consumer to have an emotional reaction or feel something, when they recognize a brand that they use and enjoy.

Tim Hortons is a household name and is an excellent example of an outstanding brand. A funny story for you. One morning as my mother was on her way to work she was on an escalator when she saw a Tim Hortons logo in the distance. Her instant reaction was to exclaim ohh. Just seeing the Tim Hortons logo triggered a feeling of need and want.

While that is an extreme example of successful branding, there are small things you can do to start to establish your brand. Here are some common examples of minor changes I often see that business owners can make to develop a brand.

1.Develop a logo (even if it is your company name just in a particular font and text) use it in all of your public relations materials

2.Be careful not to use different fonts, text, text sizes in your public relations material

3.Do not vary your tag line/slogan pick a slogan and stick with it

4.Do not alter your company name or change your colors arbitrarily because you feel like its time for a new look --- this has to be thought out and executed carefully

5.If you are going to change your look, think about your customer and how they are likely to feel before using your service and how you would like them to feel while using your service

6.When advertising, do allow the advertising station throw in free creative. You get what you pay for. If you advertise in 3 places and 3 different producers create your ads your message will be less consistent then if the same person produces all of your media.

7.Order letterhead do not let employees arbitrarily send out public relations material without it being on letterhead (on brand)

8.Is the brand you or your company decide this before you start advertizing

At the root of any brand must be a service that ads value to the public. If you are a small business owners looking to grow and develop a strong image/brand Assure Assess offers businesses solutions that range from business strategy to branding/advertizing to social networking. Find out more at www.assureassess.com.

by: Courtney Jewell-McElroy

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