How to Start A Business Course – Growing Your Business: Brands & Beyond – Part 20/27

In today’s hypercompetitive world, businesses have entered a battleground for both the continuous attention, trust, and buying power of customers – the focus has thus shifted primarily to relationship-building. Customers are overloaded with competitive marketing-related content and products/ services that could potentially serve their needs. With this rapid increase in rivalry across industries, businesses have to continuously optimize their overall business, offerings, and marketing efforts to stand out from the crowd. With this, businesses have had to optimize their brand strategies -the primary element distributed throughout the business lifecycle that ties everything together.

"A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships." - Seth Godin

The entrepreneurial and overall business landscape has changed dramatically – shifting strategic focuses from primarily sales/profit to customer experience. This mindset and decision have been widely adopted across industries, as it holds the power to create a sustainable competitive advantage. For modern customers, engaging with a business has become about more than matching offerings with their needs. They’re seeking relationships with businesses to which they can dedicate their attention and buying power into the future. This is due to the heightened availability of competitive offerings and marketing-related noise. In most cases, customers want to break through that noise and build a trusting relationship with one business, listen to their stories, and make memories with them.

OBJECTIVES:

Overview of Branding & Terminology
Role of Branding in Business Growth
Create & Implement a Brand Strategy
Brand Management & Optimisation

Branding Overview: Role & Terminology
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Brand

A brand is considered a set of creative features that distinguishes one business from another business, which includes various elements. These elements include a (1) logo/symbol, (2) tagline/ slogan, (3) brand personality, (4) brand voice, and (5) overall design structures. It’s essentially the creative identity of the business that enables customers to both recognize and recall the business in question.

Branding

Branding is considered the process of (1) researching, (2) planning, (3) designing, (4) developing, (5) applying, and (6) distributing this collection of creative features. This process, together with the creative elements created, enables customers to make specific associations with the business in question. This process is considered iterative and requires a business to embody a 360-degree vision of the business and the personas of its customers.

Top 10 Reasons to Prioritise Branding

Creates a Business Identity
• Enables connection & resonance
• Creates a sense of uniqueness
• Invites specific group of customers
• Supports criteria & requirements

Beyond your business and the products/services that you offer, branding provides you with a brand/business identity that prospective and current customers can connect and resonate with. Much like humans, we each have a distinct identity that enables a sense of uniqueness and invites specific individuals to connect with us on a deeper level, based on specific personal criteria/requirements.

Distinguishes from Rivals
• Enables differentiation from rivals
• Allows customers to filter content
• Connects experiences with business
• Differentiates based on CSAT levels

This brand identity enables a business to differentiate itself from competitors. It serves as a vehicle for prospective and current customers to sift through competitive noise and identify the business/businesses they wish to engage with. It also enables customers to connect experiences with specific businesses and determine which business provides the most satisfactory results.

Creates Emotional Connection
• Leverages BI to create relationships
• Enables connections with customers
• Allows resonance with a business story
• Creates a foundation for future trust

Much like connecting with humans maintaining unique identities and using that identity to create relationships, businesses leverage their brand identity to create an emotional connection with prospective and current customers. The brand identity, as well as every element it entails, enables customers to both connect and resonate with the business – setting the foundation for a strong and trusting relationship.

Generates Customers/Leads
• Creates lasting impressions of the brand
• Gains, maintains & increases awareness
• Creates & fosters brand perceptions
• Sets the foundation for trusting relations

As mentioned before, the brand identity of the business creates a first and lasting impression among prospective and current customers. It serves as a vehicle to (1) gain, maintain, and increase awareness among customers, (2) create and foster specific brand perceptions, and (3) set the foundation for both trust and relationship-building.

Stimulates Recognition/Recall
• Enables easy recognition & recall
• Allows customers to filter options
• Supports in experience identification
• Creates desires based on needs/wants

The brand identity of a business, as well as every element it entails, also enables prospective and current customers to easily recognize and recall a specific business, based on specific engagements with the business in question. This not only assists them with sifting through competitive noise but identifying their experiences with a business and determining which business/businesses they wish to engage with based on specific needs/ wants to be identified.

Supports Referral Processes
• Serves as word-of-mouth (WOM) vehicle
• Places brand in customer evoked set
• Enables recall during conversations
• Supports peer-reviewed purchases

As part of the brand recognition/recall process, the brand identity of a business also serves as a vehicle for word-of-mouth (WOM) among and between prospective and current customers. Should sufficient awareness and engagement be generated, the brand identity of a business is placed within their evoked / consideration set and recalled when customers engage in conversation about their product/service needs. This process is also typically referred to as recommendation-based / peer-reviewed decisions and purchases.

Increases Business Value
• Provides & increases the value of the business
• Stretches beyond financial value

• Value Proposition • Brand Promise
• Need Fulfilment • CS Experience

Beyond your physical assets, a strong brand will both provide value and increase the value of your business. It stretches beyond the financial value of your physical assets and includes the intangible value provided through the business’ (1) value proposition, (2) brand promise, (3) need fulfillment, and (4) customer experience. The intangible value of the business is also included in valuation processes, to determine its true market value.

Creates Community Trust
• Creates & nurtures CS relationships
• Enables expectations & experiences
• Generates a community of advocates
• Supports positive WOM & referrals

As mentioned, your brand identity serves as a vehicle to form and foster trusting relationships with multiple customers. When trust is achieved, customers know what to expect and what they’ll experience. Subsequently, the business can generate a community of brand/business advocates that engage in positive word-of-mouth(WOM) and referral-based purchases, based on their future expectations and past experiences.

Supports Marketing Efforts
• Serves as a support mechanism for MKT
• Spreads creative features on channels
• Supports coherent messaging process
• Enables CS to connect with BI & content

Branding also serves as a crucial support mechanism for your marketing efforts. It not only distributes distinguishable and recognizable creative features across various channels but aids the process of coherent messaging throughout marketing-related content. Should a strong messaging strategy be in place, this enables customers to easily connect the brand, business, and content. Think of Integrated Marketing.

Harnesses Employee Pride
• Serves as a tool to attract skilled staff
• Increases work satisfaction & productivity
• Creates a sense of belonging & connection
• Supports long-term relationship-building

Branding also goes beyond serving as a vehicle to attract and retain customers. It serves as a crucial tool to both recruit and keeps skilled employees. When an employee works for a business with a strong brand identity, they’ll typically experience increased work satisfaction and productivity, as well as a higher degree of pride. It also creates a sense of belonging, as they connect their own identity with the identity of the business – which creates a foundation for resonance and long-term relationships.

It is evident that the importance of branding stretches far beyond its tangible creative features and its ability to separate your business from competitors. It encompasses a carefully crafted collection of intangible and invaluable perceptions, experiences, narratives, and relationships that supports the business throughout its lifecycle. Should your brand strategy be strong, your brand will do most of the work for you.

Top 15 Branding Terminology

Brand Assets

Brand Assets are the individual creative elements, both tangible and intangible, that collectively form the overall external identity of the business. This typically includes a collection of your creative features, including your (1) logo/symbol, (2) tagline/slogan, (3) color palette, (4) typography, (5) visuals/audio, and other creative resources – forged together to create and maintain a distinct appearance for your business.

Brand Personality

Much like humans, brands create and maintain a specific personality – referring to specific qualities and characteristics that support differentiation and foster connections with specific customers. This personality informs brand behavior – referring to how your business interacts with customers in the marketplace. This personality is manifested within and distributed through marketing-related efforts.

Brand Awareness

Brand Awareness refers to customers’ ability to both identify and recall the brand/business within a highly competitive marketplace. It refers to the customer’s level of familiarity with the Unique Value Proposition (UVP), core values, core activities, and products/services of the business. Brand Awareness is typically the primary goal within most Integrated Marketing Strategies (IMS) and Customer Acquisition Strategies (CAS), as well as the Customer Journey Map (CJM) and Sales Funnel.

Brand Recognition

Should brand awareness remain strong, customers can easily recognize your brand without seeing your business name. This is typically aided through the creative features/assets of the business, including the (1) logo/symbol, (2) tagline/slogan, (3) color palette, (4) typography, (5) visuals/ audio, and other creative resources.

Brand Trust

Brand Trust refers to the level of strength in which your customers believe in your brand/business and reveals the perception among customers as to how your business adheres to their expectations. In other words, trust is built when your business delivers on its promises and meets/exceeds the needs/expectations of customers throughout each engagement.

Brand Valuation

As mentioned before, the value of your brand/business stretches far beyond the financial value of your physical assets. The value of your brand is typically derived from customer perceptions, recognition/recall abilities, and levels of trust. The overall value of your brand/business not only assists in attracting and retaining customers but attracting and retaining valuable partners, investors, and other stakeholders.

Brand Equity

Brand Equity refers to the value of your business’s financial and non-financial assets, typically measured by the quality and quantity of brand awareness and buying influence. It includes the total of the distinct qualities/features of the brand/business that form and foster commitment towards and demand for the brand/business – making the brand/business both valuable and valued among stakeholders.

Brand Architecture

Brand Architecture refers to how the individual brands of the business relate to and interact with each other. It serves as a system for identifying the role of each brand, as well as the overarching function of each. This enables a business to differentiate brand elements and create overall brand equity with an integrated approach.

Brand Extension

Once a business has formed and fostered a strong brand identity and brand equity within its existing market/sectors, they’re typically enabled to expand its brand into additional markets/sectors. Typically, they’re serving the same target audience, but with differentiating needs/preferences regarding their products/services.

Brand Attributes

Brand Attributes refer to the elements and qualities of a brand/business within a customer’s mind, that help establish and maintain a tone-of-voice for both internal and external channels and content. Essentially, these refer to the basic elements that create the brand identity, as well as the functional associations and emotional connections assigned to the brand/business by its customers.

Brand Audit

A Brand Audit is conducted to determine the position and performance of the brand/business within the allocated marketplace. This typically includes predominantly analyzing customer insights and inspecting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the business. This process is activated once the business identifies opportunities for improvement or brand extensions.

Brand Discovery

Brand Discovery typically forms part of the brand auditing process and objectively analyses the brand’s role/position within its competitive arena. This includes analyzing customer insights to determine purchase intent.

Brand Positioning

Brand Positioning refers to the distinctive space, as well as the strength thereof, a brand/ business occupies within its competitive environment. This process forms a crucial part of the brand strategy, as it enables a business to control the recognition, recall, and election process among customers. It involves the careful manipulation of marketing-related activities, geared toward claiming the desired market position and establishing a unique impression among customers.

Brand Harmonization

Much like any other strategy within your business, cohesiveness/ integration is crucial. Brand Harmonisation refers to the process of carefully arranging the brand elements to ensure consistent brand identity and position throughout each selected channel, platform, and asset. This process requires a golden thread of messaging / cues, as well as clear articulation regarding the overall business – to facilitate harmoniousness between the brand promise and customer expectations.

Branding Strategy: Creation & Execution

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A Brand Strategy is a comprehensive and long-term plan that guides a business through (1) research, (2) planning, (3) design, (4) development, (5) distribution and (6) management of the brand. Typically included within a brand strategy, much like other strategies within your business, are your brand-related operations and financials as well.

Brand Strategy Elements
Before creating your brand strategy, it’s crucial that the stakeholders involved in the (1) research, (2) planning, (3) design, (4) development, (5) distribution, and (6) management of the brand, are on the same page regarding the overall direction and prospects of the strategy. You should thus have a clear understanding of the overall vision, goals, and objectives of your business – which will ultimately create the foundation for your brand strategy. This brand strategy should thus align with the overarching strategy of your business to ensure a harmonious integration.

Brand Research
Apart from chasing your vision, goals, and objectives, the creation of your brand strategy should also rest on a strong foundation of market research. At a minimum, this section of your brand strategy should include (1) an industry overview and outlook, (2) insights regarding your ideal customer and brand engagement expectations, (3) a competitor analysis and comparison, and (4) your positioning matrix and key competitive brand features.

Brand Heart
This section of your brand strategy should provide a comprehensive overview of your brand essence – who you are at the core and your reason for existing. Here, you’ll provide a detailed description of both your business and brand (1) purpose/promise (2) vision, (3) mission, (4) core values, (5) personality qualities and (6) benefits.

Brand Audience
Within this section of your brand strategy, you’ll evaluate your market research and create an overview of your (1) target market, (2) customer segments, and (3) customer personas. This will also explain tactics for how emotional connections could be created by linking the personality of the business, with the personality of the ideal customer.

Brand Message
In this section, you’ll include your messaging strategy, which will primarily comprise (1) your brand promise(s), (2) value propositions, (3) specific taglines, (4) target keywords, (5) content pillars, (7) themes and categories, and very important (8) your brand story. Your brand story is the golden thread throughout your entire brand strategy and should be carefully crafted according to your brand purpose, promise, and vision.

Brand Guidelines
Given that brand management is both a functional and creative exercise, as well as a creative vehicle to bring across your overall business purpose and vision, you have to include brand guidelines. Brand guidelines include rules around the appropriate (1) color palettes for your brand, (2) fonts and typography, (3) visuals such as images and footage, as well as (4) audio. This section would also include other rules and guides regarding any other activity or element that can be considered a customer touchpoint. This exercise aids consistency and, when distributed among the relevant team members, ensures that everybody is on the same page as to (1) what to produce, (2) how to produce it, and (3) how to distribute it.

Brand Assets
Activities and elements within your brand strategy can only become brand assets once a customer can associate them with a specific brand/ business. This would include the (1) composition and versions of your logo, symbols, and icons, (2) your slogans/taglines, (3) your jingles, and any other brand assets that constitute your brand identity.

Brand Management: Management & Optimization

Brand Management refers to the active process of (1) researching, (2) planning, (3) designing, (4) developing, (5) distributing, (6) controlling, (7) monitoring, (8) evaluation, (9) reporting and (10) improvement of the brand as a whole throughout the business lifecycle. Naturally, this process includes all the concepts and elements discussed thus far, which include the overall management of the tangible and intangible elements of the brand. As Decker (2021) wrote:

“Your brand is a living, breathing asset, and it should be managed as such.”

Branding vs. Reputation
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It’s also important to understand the difference between Brand and Reputation Management. Although every strategy within your business is interlinked and integrated, serving the overall vision of the business as a collective, there are distinct differences that have to be kept in mind. The biggest difference between the two is that a brand is enduring, whilst a reputation changes more rapidly and is more susceptible.

Brand: A brand is a manner in which you choose to present your business to the world and includes a range of strategic steps to ensure that your reputation reflects your true brand.

Reputation: Reputation refers to how others collectively perceive your business and either the negative or positive connotations linked to that business.

Branding Components

There are 8 primary branding components to consider when aiming to design and implement a sound branding strategy. These include (1) purpose, (2) uniqueness, (3) creativity, (4) consistency, (5) emotion, (6) agility, (7) loyalty, and (8) rivalry.

Let’s explore each component briefly.

Purpose

Every business and its underlying strategies should be geared toward and align with one singular specific purpose or vision. Like your other business strategies, your brand strategy should serve the overall purpose and vision of your business – in other words, the reason your business exists, and the promises linked to that existence. Every activity and element within your brand strategy should be both (1) functional and (2) intentional to align with the overall purpose and vision of your business.

Functional: This requirement links to the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of the business – referring to the definition of success for that business. The most basic success factor for any business is to make a substantial profit, which links to commercial reasoning under the overall purpose and vision of the business.

Intentional: This requirement links to the commitment statements of the business – referring to the overall promises made by the business. This requirement goes beyond the functional and commercial reasoning for the business’ existence and stretches into benefits generated for those stakeholders outside of the business. This could include existing to contribute to the welfare of society and the environment. Think IKIGAI.

Unique

To differentiate your business from your competitors, your brand strategy should be distinctive – especially the creative features of your business. Your brand should be a true reflection of the (1) nature of your business, as well as your (2) core values and activities, (3) promises and commitments, (4) a corporate culture, and the (5) overall personality of your business. Should your brand remain unique, you’ll make it more memorable – aiding brand recognition and recall among your customers.

Creativity

4 overarching criteria constitute brand creativity:

Surprise: Your brand, as well as every activity and element linked with your brand, should continuously captivate, and maintain the attention of your target audience – even if it becomes familiar over the customer’s lifetime.

Novelty: This directly links with the uniqueness of your brand and the activities you pursue to distribute your brand identity, where a business creates a truly unique and novel brand – reshaping old ideas about the (1) what, (2) how, and (3) why of a brand.

Beauty: Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you should produce a brand that’s visually appealing and aesthetically satisfying. This would include every brand asset, as well as the content assets and marketing materials on which your brand is located and distributed.

Utility: This criterion requires a brand to be useful or linked to usefulness in some way, shape, or format – especially for those engaging with it. This requires the brand to become and maintain a vehicle through which the functional and intentional purpose and vision of the business are carried.

Consistency

When engaging in Brand Management activities, there are two key criteria of consistency that have to be adhered to:

Quantity: This criterion refers to the amount of branded content required to successfully portray the brand message and promise.

Quality: This criterion refers to the quality of the branded content distributed, which considers User Experience (UX).

Emotion

When crafting your brand strategy, as well as every activity and element within, it’s crucial to keep the overall experience and potential emotional connection with your business in mind. The key is to create, foster and nurture positive emotions within your customers, especially when engaging with your brand/business. This will aid the customer experience and assist in building a strong, trusting relationship.

Agility

Like a strategy within your business, your brand strategy should be both agile and responsive. This requires your brand strategy to adhere to the ever-changing demands of customers – especially when it comes to brand engagement and customer experience. One tactic that has gained favor, especially given the heightened competitive landscape, is personalization – a concept we’ve discussed a few times during this module. Personalizing engagement with your customers will ensure that customers create an emotional connection with your business. Also, your brand strategy should also be able to adapt to various other macro factors, including industry trends and competitor activities.

Loyalty

The ultimate goal of a successful brand strategy is to create, foster and maintain brand loyalty among customers. This requires your brand strategy to work in conjunction with other crucial strategies within your business, including your (1) product/service strategy, (2) customer service strategy, (3) pricing and positioning strategy, (4) integrated marketing strategy, and so forth. This collective approach aids consistency and places the experience of the customer with your brand at the core of your business. When customers engage with your brand repeatedly, the aim is to reward those customers for their advocate-like behavior and ensure they are retained. When other customers notice that continuous brand engagement results in rewards, it could direct their attention and buying power toward your business.

Rivalry

Your brand strategy should certainly be unique, but not be developed and managed in isolation. The activities and elements within your brand strategy must be based on sound market research. This market research should include competitor analysis and positioning strategy, which requires constant adaptation as new businesses arise or existing businesses adjust their strategies. One of the ultimate goals of your brand strategy should be to improve your strategy and increase its value – especially when serving an original niche market that experiences a cumulative rise in rival intensity.

With every relationship in its infancy/budding stages, the first contact sets the tone and the foundation for the absence/availability of trust. The brand of the business thus serves as the master key to unlocking the customer journey of prospective customers and keeping current customers coming to YOUR business, and not your competitors. It’s a universal business activity and the driving force behind competitive advantages.

So, tell stories, create connections, and make magic!