subject: Branding for Entrepreneurs [print this page] Branding for entrepreneurs Branding for entrepreneurs
To start this look at branding lets go back to the original definition. The term comes from the Wild West where cowboys would brand their cattle in order to identify them as belonging to a particular rancher. It is also where the term maverick came from as one person called Maverick decided not to brand his cattle on the basis that any cattle not branded must be his.
Today we use branding in much the same way in order to identify a product or service as coming from a particular company. However, today the brand has to do more than simply identify ownership. A brand now has to represent the company, its values and what the company actually delivers.
For that reason a brand is much more than a logo or a strap line. Logos, company names and strap lines together can be more effective than any one of them on their own, but branding also includes every interaction with a client from the telephonist to the accounts department.
So how does a new entrepreneur go about tackling the minefield of product or service branding? The first thing to do is to recognise that simply having a copy of desk top publishing software does not make you a branding expert! Be prepared to spend money with an expert if you don't have the skill yourself. However, don't hand the project over to an external consultant, stay involved.
Before starting work on branding make sure you have thought through where you want the company to be in five years time. What may be a great image today may not be appropriate for where you want to take the company. For example, what you call your company today may turn out to be a work of totally different meaning when you start to export to another country. One of the internet myths is that the Nova car never sold in Spain because No Va' in Spanish means not going'!
The next thing to be sure of is that you don't get too clever so that it is only you that gets the message. British Telecom in the UK spent millions on a new branding that everyone thought was an image of a Greek God blowing a horn. In reality it was a combination of two people, one listening and one speaking. I asked for an explanation of the logo at seminars for years and not one person could tell me what it meant.
Make sure that you get it right first time and that if it works don't change it. I often say that if it is not broken then don't waste time mending it! Nike used the slogan Just do it' for years because it encapsulated the concept that people knew exercise was good for them and that simply needed a verbal push. Kellogg use the slogan Snap, Crackle, Pop' for their Rice Crispies cereal. That slogan first appeared in 1928 and is considered the oldest branding still in existence.
Branding needs to be consistent. This means that logos and strap lines appear in the same place on every type of document be it a letterhead, a business card, a poster or a brochure. It also needs to maintain characteristics such as colour, type font and proportional size. Well designed tailor made logos are worth spending money on. The easiest way to destroy a brand is to let someone loose with publisher, a selection of fonts and a clipart library. The usual output from this sort of exercise is equivalent to the sort of artwork produced by young children and fixed to the refrigerator door with a magnet.
I said early on that the brand of a company has to be demonstrated in every client interaction. That means that all employees need to know and understand the brand. So if the brand is about quality and service, make sure that people in the organisation know how that carries through into the way telephones are answered, the way queries are dealt with etc.
Let me give you a final word of warning. From this article it is clear that the brand has to encapsulate what you can deliver. Therefore make sure that it does so. A store in the USA had the strap line It's All Inside'. How long will this work if people go in and cannot find what they are looking for.
From all I have said it is clear that your third grade award for a painting of what you did in the school holidays' is not sufficient qualification for developing a long lasting brand. Get involved by all means, but recognise that this could impact your business for years to come and needs the assistance of real professionals.
