Getting Started: Elementary Branding

I went to my writing group Wednesday and it always leaves me with a ton of topic ideas. Since make-up reviews aren't for everyone and I'm postponing doing other things. Let's discuss one of them.

The writer suggested creating your brand and someone in the class asked what is a brand? I'm not going to kid myself and say I'm a brand expert but I studied brands in school and just went through a brand tweak at work for the last year and a half so I think I can at least give an elementary overview of the topic.

A brand is a lot more than a logo and color, it's more than who the company says they are, it's also what the customer thinks the company is. A brand is a living breathing thing and always changing. Company's do their best to manage their brand but in my opinion the brand is nothing if the customer's don't agree.

For example: I could own XYZ Coffee shop. My idea of what I am is I have low prices, friendly service, and lots of books and magazines people can just sit around hanging out. I could talk to my customers and find out they think Starbucks is cheaper (wow!), that the magazines and books are beat up and old, and the customer service just ok. Obviously what I think I am is not what everyone else perceives.

I would really suggest if you're serious about branding yourself to read up on the topic. Read books on branding, websites on branding, look at company's brand books. Obviously if you're branding yourself as a master blogger or a great writer you don't need a 100 page brand book but you should have something written out so you can concisely tell people the different aspects of your brand.

I would suggest figuring out what makes you different, what are you trying to sell and how does it relate to others. I think Target and Nike do awesome jobs.

Nike is trying to sell exercise clothes and shoes, their slogan is "Just Do It". It's all about how buying their stuff will help you just get on with your life and tackle your next big race or win that tennis game. You can show someone their logo and people instantly know who they are. But they back it all up with a great product. They could have done the same thing and had shoddy shoes that gave you blisters and fell apart mid-race. Do you think people would have the same respect for them?

Now you all know my love affair with Target. Target quickly positioned themselves as (I'm going to say) the anti-Walmart. A big box store with great customer service, low prices (but they didn't hinge on this as much), everything you could ever want but more upscale. You know the bulls eye. You know the dog. You know the red shirts. It's all part of their brand. It's all part of their overall brand. They're building an expectation and meeting it (I think).

Walmart (if you haven't noticed) has been desperately trying to re-brand themselves - new logo, new colors, the store near me was redesigned. The thing is for me they can't bounce up and down and yell about how upscale they are and how they aren't just a low-priced boxy warehouse with unhelpful employees but for me I'm not going to set foot in the store unless I absolutely have to - I've had too many bad experiences. Their brand to me is cheap prices, unhelpful employees, warehouse feel, and NOT WORTH IT. I'd rather pay $2 more and stay safely tucked away in Target.

So you're probably saying? What does all this mean?

1. Find out what makes you different. Write a mission statement, your values and your vision and then you can start working on your brand. Your brand will reinforce your mission and values and help you reach your vision.

2. Come up with a mini-brand book. If you're a writer - I would suggest knowing a font you want to use in your book (different fonts have different readability, come across meaning different things). The brand book should spell out what you want and what you don't want. For example, at work we want life-style photos in our ads (people living their life) not just shiny-happy people (you know the glassy-eyed stock photos of someone holding say an apple and smiling like they just took a fistful of anti-depressants).

3. Be rememberable. Use what makes you different and become top of mind to people. As I said a logo is part of a brand but flash up say the Target bulls eye and there is a feeling associated with that (perhaps joy that everything I could ever want was crammed into one big building). You want people to look at something you do and instantly associate with you. A test I like to do at work, is cover up our logo/or anyone's logo and say - can I tell who is advertising this? Is it immediately clear that this is Nike, Target, The Limited... etc.

4. Be good at what you do. Become a source for what makes you different. Put yourself out there. You can't be a brand if no one knows who you are.

5. But limit yourself to only things that fit your brand strategy. Don't participate in things that don't strengthen who you are. I don't like her but Paris Hilton does a pretty decent job of branding herself - she participates in things that enhance her image as a carefree party girl. She goes to club openings, sexy commercials, etc. You don't see her on a poster for Free the Whales or giving talks about the state of the nation.