If you think branding is only for big names like Cocacola, Luis Vitton, Channel, Ferarri? You couldn’t be more wrong.
Brand perception is a powerhouse of marketing that can increase brand awareness, surge brand loyalty, and ultimately sustain your company’s growth for years. The advantage gained by helping your business stand out, being memorable or being associated with positive attributes is huge!
Recommended reading: Marketing basics, what’s your business game plan?
What Is Brand Identity?
Your brand identity should distinguish you from the competition and if it can, communicate the type of business you’re in or without much explanation, all the better.
A good brand helps establish trust, credibility, and will influence how potential customers perceive your products or services. Including how much they will pay/value what you have to offer.
It’s one aspect of your business where you have 100% control – so getting it right really does reflect on the rest of your business. And considering perceptions can be positive or negative, it’s important to get it right.
❝89 percent of marketers think that brand awareness is the most important goal, followed by sales and lead generation..❞
Who Benefits From Better Branding?
If you think branding is only for big names like Cocacola, Luis Vitton, Channel, Ferarri? You couldn’t be more wrong.
Sure they supersize their brand-building efforts, but they also have teams of analysts calculating just how profitable their efforts are. You can guarantee if it wasn’t essential or profitable – they wouldn’t do it.
- Netflix spent $1.45 billion on branding in 2020.
- Coca-Cola spends an average of $4 billion on branding each year.
- Pepsi spends an average of $2.4 billion on branding per year.
- Amazon spent close to $18.88 billion on branding and marketing in 2019
Branding For Small & Medium Businesses
For SMB’s brand building is like word-of-mouth on steroids. It sets expectation levels and can elevate you above your competition and every second counts when it comes to making a good impression. This is why startups will often choose to dedicate a big chunk of their budget to branding. A well-designed logo, high-quality brochures and a professional website can play a big role in impressing new customers.
If you fail to stand out, be memorable or recognisable, it’s much harder to get noticed. So without a brand strategy, you’ll need to spend more on advertising and work twice as hard on social media to gain any traction.
❝81 percent of consumers said that they need to trust the brand in order to buy from them.❞
Why Review Your Brand Identity Now?
77 per cent of marketers say that branding is critical to future growth.
I don’t have to tell you that COVID has been brutal on many businesses. Even sectors that weren’t directly affected are experiencing the knock-on effects that will be with us for some time.
With uncertainty comes new challenges. Customers are willing to put in a little more work to get the best value. This doesn’t have to be price related, the false economy of buying cheap twice is well known by most savvy consumers.
But what it does mean is increased competition.
A solid brand identity is an essential part of your marketing foundation. When time & resources are in short supply, companies with a strong marketing foundation will find it easier to pivot and adapt to change.
Is Branding For You?
It only takes consumers 10 seconds to form a first impression of a brand’s logo, but it takes 5–7 impressions for consumers to recognize the logo.
How do you measure up against your competition? Do you look like a market leader and is your brand identifiable from across the room. If not, it might be time to take a second look at your company brand identity.
If you have multiple styles of your logo, you’ll do better presenting a more consistent, unified front. If you are inconsistent with your own business, why would your products or services be any different? And if you’ve ever squeezed, squashed or skewed your logo and thought that was ok, having a brand identity guide will help protect you from yourself.
Branding Self Assessment:
Rate each one on a scale from 1-10 (1 = bad and 10 = Awesome)
1-4 you need to work on it. 5-7 may need a refresh or update. 8-10 you’re good to go.
Company Logo
Company Tagline
Company Colours
Video Logo Reveals
Business Cards
Email Signature
Website
Company Signage
Window Decals
Billboards
Advertisements
Social Media Profiles
Social Media Posts
Proposals, Estimates, Invoices & Receipts
Now do the same process for your main two competitors and see where you stand. Don’t forget, it is a competition.
You might have all the makings of a great brand, but need a little help putting all the pieces together to form an identity that your business can stick to. Or you might need a slight refresh or re-align your brand with new company values and offerings.
- The first step is defining your brand identity.
- The second step is deciding how you’ll implement it throughout your business.
- And the third step is consistency. The more versions and variations you have out there, the harder it will be.
One Final Thought…
Brand perception is a powerhouse of marketing that can increase brand awareness, surge brand loyalty, and ultimately sustain your company’s growth for years to follow.
Everyone is familiar with the old saying “done is better than perfect!” And while ‘done’ will always trump unfinished perfection. When it comes to building a brand for your business – it’s always best to aim higher. Aim for as close to perfect as you can get.
Done doesn’t cut it. You deserve better!
If you’re looking for a way to move forward, invest in your current and future growth, establish a brand and a little consistency (and restraint) goes a long way. And if you feel your current brand identity doesn’t accurately represent your business, or it was one of those areas you promised yourself you’d circle back to and “do properly”. There’s never a better time to address it than NOW.
Free Assessment Offer.
It’s never too late to review your marketing strategies, including how you build your brand. If you’d like to discuss how you could improve your branding efforts, book a free consultation with Hue Marketing.
Hue Marketing Founder
Seasoned marketing strategist and information junkie, with over 25 years of hands-on marketing experience. Phuket based since 2003.
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