Robyn gets asked this question a lot. Though we know that Nike and Coca Cola are brands, few people actually know what a brand is. To answer this, Robyn likes to use
Most don’t realize that a conversation is occurring or that they can control the story. The goal of branding is to control that conversation whether you’re in the room or not. Just like personal branding, your business needs to have an identity or personality that people can recognize it by.
Can You Answer These Questions About Your Brand?
To start creating the brand that stands behind your business, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the design of your brand? Is it exclusive to your business?
- How does your business communicate with customers?
- What does your business stand for? Do you have a mission statement?
- What markets does your business associate with?
- Do people actually recognize your business and it’s branding?
If you find it difficult to answer these questions, it’s an indication that your business lacks a brand. Furthermore, if it takes you a few team members to answer these questions, your brand’s identity needs some work.
Every member of your team should have a clear understanding of your business and its identity in the marketplace. If even one member isn’t on board with the identity, your messaging can quickly lose its basis. If you start to lose your basis, what is the point of a brand?
Make sure your team is taking the time to think about every message they make public. If they can’t relate their new message back to the business, they need to go back to the drawing board. Even if they have an amazing idea, you have to find a way to make sure it has a message that relates to the company.
The goal is to be able to describe the company with characteristics, like you could do for any person and their actions. If you can label a few main factors of your business identity, you can find the type of brand you want. Setting up these ideals becomes important for business development and training your team.
