Plugin.com

How to Lay the Foundations to Build a Successful Brand

Posted by MissP On July - 4 - 2009

Successful branding is the key to outdoing competitors and creating loyalty to your product and service. It is not a question of luck but an issue of careful consideration, observation of competitors and thinking through what your core business principles, mission and ethics really involve.

Steps

Consider who you are, what you do, and why it matters. This is key to being able to put forward a brand that attracts and keeps loyal customers. For example, if the core principles of your company are to manufacture in a sustainable manner, using fair paid labor and donating to charities, this ethos must also pervade your products.
Think about your opportunities and threats. Check out what the competitors are doing. Ask yourself these questions:

What are the competitors doing that your product or service is not?
Is this a good or a bad thing?
If it is bad (i.e., your business is lagging behind), how can you remedy this - branding will not be the sole solution, as there must be substance behind your branding claims.
What gaps are there in the industry that your product or service meets? How can you use branding to jazz this up and let folks know what you’re doing

Get a real face. This means, who is the human face of your business? For example, Paul Newman or Richard Branson are excellent examples of real faces of businesses. Does your company have a charismatic symbol head or should you hire an actor or other spokesperson to become part of your company’s branding?
Decide who your target audience is. Branding should be targeted to the age group that your product or service is aimed at.
Determine how you will execute your plan. Use your business’ graphic artists, designers, publicists to put together a decent plan. Or, if it’s you alone as an individual, create a plan that outlines: