Building Your Brand

A strong brand helps a company in five different ways: clarifies the company’s value proposition, aids in its market presence, speeds up the sales process, increases pricing, and aids in recruiting.  This resource addresses each of these from a business management and brand creation perspective and concludes with a discussion on when a small business should develop its brand and when it is time to re-brand the company.

It is important to note that marketing strategies have a number of components, of which the company’s brand is one part. The Giersch Group outlines these components in a wide variety of marketing resources available on our website.  These Topics range from a basic marketing overview titled Marketing Strategies to Marketing Strategies for a New Year, Focusing Your Marketing Strategy, Push & Pull Marketing, and Web-Marketing.[1] There are also many good firms that can work with you on brand marketing and implementation.

Clarifies the value proposition.

A company’s value proposition is why customers buy the goods and services.  A company’s brand is the representation of that value proposition; the brand does not create the value proposition. Thus, all brand development must begin with understanding the value to the customer. 

That being said, for many existing companies, the value proposition exists but is not clearly understood. All value propositions need to come from customers.  An ideal way to get a confirmation of the value proposition is through a survey. Once this value proposition is better understood, the value to the customer can be enhanced and maybe, the brand can be improved.

An easy example is a physician practice, such as Dr. John Good.  Dr. John Good is the name of the company because he is the key person who provides the services.  In a professional practice, the individual is the value proposition.  With this in mind and thinking through Dr. Good’s brand, what should his logo be?  What font does he use to represent his value to the customer?  What colors are on the stationery? Let’s say that Dr. Good’s value proposition is his ability to relate to clients with a strong specialty in sports medicine.  Perhaps a logo with an athlete would be suitable.  But, which sport should be chosen?  After looking at Dr. Good’s patients, we realize that his value not only lies in sports medicine but that most of his clients are football players or those in the industry.  To reflect this, he may decide to place a football artifact in the logo.  It may be that Dr. Good’s client base is the football industry but his value proposition includes his success with baseball and golf injuries.  Despite the fact that he does not have many customers in this area, his brand should reflect this value proposition as well.  Note that the reason customers buy Dr. Good’s services is his expertise and success, and the brand was built to reflect this value accordingly; the brand of successful sports physician was not created first with the expectation that customer value would follow. 

Speech is also part of the branding.  Will it be Dr. Good or Dr. or Dr. John Good?  Sometimes this is critical.  Dr. by itself is casual, communicating a relaxed approach. Dr. John Good is stuffy. Depending on the patient base, these different approaches impact the value perception. Similarly, how we describe the products and their value is important. All of these need to be framed by the value proposition and made consistent throughout the organization. 

Again, the key point is to know your value proposition first and then the brand will follow.  The brand represents, but is not, the value proposition.

Aids in market presence.  

Once the value proposition is known and the brand is established, the brand then assists in creating the company’s market presence.  Market presence is the awareness by the target market of the company’s products or services.  By having a consistent brand, the market begins to relate to this brand. When the brand is seen, that company’s values are triggered in the customer’s mind. 

Starbucks is a clear example of this.  Whenever a person is walking and a white coffee cup with a green logo is seen, most will think of Starbucks and know there is one nearby. If you are inclined to want a cup of coffee at that moment, Starbucks becomes an easy destination thought – some latte with a place to sit that is clean and restful. 

Company branding can result in significant economies of scale in marketing. Branding done right allows for a single advertising and marketing campaign to be used across all aspects of the firm.  Once the brand is developed, it is important to have all material, the company’s website, and the conversation, be consistent with the brand.  Larger companies are sticklers on this because the brand’s role in market presence is so important. Smaller companies change one part of the marketing program, such as the website, but do not match the change with the rest of the program, such as the stationery, business cards, brochures, report covers, and so forth.  Branding is the entire marketing program; each of these need to be framed by the value proposition and need to be consistent throughout the organization.

Speeds up the sales process.

Because the brand communicates the value proposition, the customer already has expectations of the value and purpose of the goods or services.  Therefore, when a sales call is made, the customer knows a lot about what is being offered and can make a quicker assessment of need. 

Remember a sales process does not mean every pitch is a sale. A strong brand shortens the sales cycle to close the deal. 

Note that if there is no brand awareness, the sales cycle is not shortened.  The necessary trust factors still need to be addressed.  That said, the clarity of customer value good branding provides does affect the final pricing at the end of the sales process.

Increases pricing. 

Because branding articulates the value proposition, strong branding will increase the price received for the good or service.  Why?  Because sales are based on value, not on price.

Commodities are commodities because they convey the same value.  The price is the determining factor for a sale between one commodity and the other.  Strong branding, however, removes the product or service from being a commodity and the value element is enhanced. Pricing for non-commodities moves from being the factor to being one factor.  Many times, strong branding can make the price almost a non-factor in the final decision to buy.

For example, cookies are branded to increase price.  Oreo cookies have a lot of house brand competitors, but people pay the extra money for the true Oreo cookies because they have an expectation that Oreo produces a better cookie than their competitors.

Aids in recruiting.

An interesting, but important, non-marketing benefit of good branding is recruiting and retaining people.  Just like customers respect the values of a company that has a good brand, so do employees.  Companies can wrap themselves in employee related values through their brands, just as much as customer related values. 

When to get a brand?

For small businesses, branding often needs take backseat to other considerations. In the early stages of the company, customer and product/services are being refined.  Until such refinement is complete, then it is hard to clarify the value proposition. 

Many new companies wish to get the branding right at the start. The problem is that the value proposition has not been tested by the market.  So it is likely that the branding will be premature.  In this case, the capital poured into the branding is lost and the branding needs to be redone. Capital is so precious to new companies that the Giersch Group recommends a minimum cost to setting up the brand.  After the company has gotten on its feet, the branding can be thoughtfully done.

When to do a rebrand? 

If your customer surveys point to values that are not clear or inconsistent to the current brand, then it is time.  If a new set of products or services is being offered, then it is time to consider the brand.  Some brands get tired and need freshening. McDonalds is in the process of rebranding. The golden arches are being flattened and the label McCafé is being used more often. Why? For McDonalds, the golden arches have stood it well, but now the value proposition is being challenged as poor quality fast food. A café is not fast food, so McCafé carries that message that it is about a food experience, good coffee, and good food.

Many people worry that such a process will confuse the market.  Actually, done right, branding changes can increase market awareness. A new brand is an opportunity to speak to the market about what is happening in the company.  For sure, all existing customers will get the news. The broader market will get it through market wide advertising.  That being said, rebranding is not easy and can be costly, so consider if it is important. Whether it is important is determined when the five items above say that customers will respond favorably.

Action Items

1. Review the merit of the existing brand.
2. Review the consistency of the branding across all company material. Make changes were necessary.

Articles for Further Reading

1. Design Council.  “The Power of Branding: A Practical Guide”. http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Documents/Documents/Publications/Power_of_branding.pdf  This free guide from the Design Council sheds light on the subject of branding; what it is, how it works and how you can use it to help improve your business.

For more information, please visit the Giersch Group at www.gierschgroup.com or contact us at prosper@gierschgroup.com.