When you started your business, was your only branding concern, "how do I look?" Were you only worried about your logo, your colors, the professional photo of you on your website? If those were your major concerns, it is time to rethink the process. The term branding in bandied about everywhere. Do you know what branding really is?
Simply said, branding is a promise. A Promise, that whenever I purchase a company's product or service, it will have the same quality and benefits that I have known it to have in the past or perceive it to have. The benefits to me, as the consumer, may increase, but never decrease. Remember the outrage a number of years when Coke tried to change their "promise". People did not want the new taste, they wanted the Coke that was promised to them. Coke could change the packaging, but they could not change the "promise" of a product that people had come to know and most importantly, love.
So what is your company promise? What is it about your business that makes you unique, special, and offers your potential clients that they feel your promise is the most reputable and believable? Take a few moments and write down what you want your company to be known for. Now go back and revisit your marketing materials and website. Does your "promise" and your "look" mesh? Are you offering a Lexus, but your site looks like a Ford Pinto? The promise and the look need to go hand in hand to steer your business to success.
Heed my words of wisdom, I promise that they will bring your business to the level you are trying to achieve.
JoAnne Lenart-Weary
