Building A Brand
It’s easy to see the overwhelming influence that brands have on society. When you take a high-level overview of how they effect us, it is overwhelming. What we drink, eat, drive, where we go, what we do and what we share can always be tied back to our brand choices. Each brand that we choose to align ourselves with personally and professionally are due to a set of values or perceptions that we have regarding those brands. Those perceptions are crafted by our experiences that create lasting impressions that affect the way we interact with those brands.
Take a second to think about it. You formed an impression, be it a positive or negative one, you then mentally filed it away based on what you perceive to be true about the products and services you chose or didn’t choose to enhance your life. That impression is based off of something you read, heard, observed or simply from the marketing communications of said brands through channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or good ol’ fashioned print advertising.
We develop and maintain perceptions of a brand based upon a variety of direct and indirect stimuli. Many businesses, even large sophisticated organizations seem content with controlling a narrow field of those stimuli, traditionally advertising, packaging, promotion, etc. You will often hear executives speak of their favorite TV spot, print ad or retail promotion. What you don’t hear often enough is probably the most important piece of the whole equation. How had our customer’s experience been with our organization?
Even though there are lots of individuals with “Brand” in their title they fail to recognize or appreciate their most important asset as it relates to their organization. That is the experience that their brand provides, in my previous blog “Why a Brand Is More Than a Logo” we touch on the idea that effective brand’s evoke emotion. This is because when you are able to make someone feel something by seeing or thinking of your brand it has lasting effects.
Emotion, long-term memories and most importantly motivation are all tied to the Limbic System of our brain and this is where you want your brand to live because this creates action!
For some, brands have become a core element of their overall business strategy, creating financial value at every turn and directly influencing the decisions made that create revenue and profit.
These organizations understand that the brand lies below the surface, their activities do not solely revolve around clever ads or Facebook posts although advertising is a critical component of their overall strategy. They understand that their website, social media, packaging all play an important role but that those are an extension of their overall brand promise.
Brand = Customer Experience
What we are really saying is that your brand should be promising an experience and delivering on that with every transaction and communication. Research consistently reinforces the idea that people will reward the companies whose product or services meet or exceed their expectations. The holy grail for a brand is “brand preference” which equates to customer loyalty and ultimately into recurring revenue. However, so few companies truly appreciate how critical it is for all customer interactions be it on the phone, email or Tweet should be seamless and effortlessly aligned with the brand promise or customer experience.
Amazon, Coca-Cola and Southwest Airlines are examples of companies that utilize their brand promise to align their organizations from top to bottom to create great experiences and be best-in class providers in their respective markets by consistently delivering on the promised experience.
Brand Promise = Commitment
Every great brand has a long history of real commitment and willingness to stop at nothing to achieve it’s goal. It is challenging for organizations to deliver a consistent brand experience. It takes a clear vision from strong leadership to motivate employees to share in the vision because the organization has to keep their eye on the prize day in and day out. The commitment has to be real and meaningful because I assure you the work is no small feat but the reward is lasting. Additionally, it takes constant evaluation and honest feedback to ensure that your brand promise is being fulfilled and when it is not that you swiftly react to get things back on track.
If you’re ready to march toward the path of creating a brand experience that generates real revenue growth you have to start by asking yourself the following 4 questions.
- What does our brand say about us?
- What do you want your customers to say when they see your brand tomorrow?
- What are the things we can do to create the path toward where we want to be?
- How will we ensure that we stay on track?
If you’re interested in unlocking your brand’s potential then reach out to us and we can have a conversation about how we can help you achieve that!
