10 Things to Know About Your Brand

top10Branding – the idea of creating an image, sound, word, that conveys an instantaneous message – is both and art and a science.  The art is in the creativity, finding just the right image and word and sound combination to trigger an emotional response in your customers.  The science is understanding what triggers certain behaviors, tracking your progress, measuring your success.

As an entrepreneur, consultant or what I call an “independent professional” there is so much to learn about branding that it is sometimes hard to know where to start.  When embarking on any branding activity ask yourself these 10 questions.

  1. Who is your target audience? You can solve a customer problem if you don’t know who the customers are.  Focus on them and they will help you answer the rest of these questions.
  2. What is your brand promise? What does the company stands for?  What is the single most important thing that the organization promises to deliver to its customers? What do you want customers, employees, and partners to expect from EVERY interaction with you.
  3. What is your unique value proposition? What do you offer that no one else does?  How do you want customers to FEEL about your organization after interacting with you?
  4. What are your key messages? Customer messages are divided into core ideas which are made relevant by including supporting statements that reinforce the idea (data, benefits, features, etc.)  These are the ideas that your customers think are important – not the one you think they think are important.
  5. What is your brand personality? Illustrate what the organization wants its brand to be known for. Think about specific personality traits you want prospects, clients, employees, and partners to use to describe your organization. You should have 4-6 traits (5 is ideal), each being a single term (usually an adjective).
  6. What is the tone of your brand communications? Think of the voice, tone and language used to communicate your brand?  Does it relate to your customers?  Does it relate to your personality?  does it support your promise?
  7. What is the ONE thing that you want people to take away from your brand? If you can only communicate one thing to you customers what would it be? What is the single most important thing to them (not to you).
  8. How do you describe your brand? Your description should include Aa brief explanation of how you solve their problem using important details of the offering that reinforce the key messages and differentiation.
  9. Do you have a tagline? A tagline is a brief statement that captures the essence of your brand in a few words.
  10. How do you personally feel about the answers to these questions? If your gut tells you that this isn’t authentic, or that this is the same stuff you’ve been saying for years, then you should listen.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

In the world of Real Estate it is all about “location, location, location”. In the world of marketing it is all about consistency. In conjunction with a sound brand strategy, you need a clear and concise message that resonates with your customers. These messages need to be integrated across your brand and into every customer touch point. Now, you don’t need to use the same words over and over. However, each communication needs to reinforce the key messages that have been developed to support the brand. It is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts – when the brand are consistently conveyed across multiple touch points, the customer is left with a clear understanding of what the company, product, service, or solution is and how it solves their problem. Simply put, they know what your brand is about.




Unfortunately, as marketers we often get bored with the messages we’ve developed. We’ve spent hours fine-tuning them and testing them. Finally, our campaigns launch and the messages are out there, but by that time they feel old and stale to us. There is a difference between a “fresh” message (with unique language, a clever play on words, a connection to a current event) and a “different” message (not aligned with strategy, not related to existing messages, different for the sake of being different). Research shows that it takes anywhere from five to nine impressions for an individual to actually internalize a marketing message. That means they need to see it over and over again. Not the same words, but the same idea supported by the same brand.




For example, an article in a trade publication mentions the company and their new product; the customer sees an online banner ad, they click on it, and get to a landing page with a compelling offer; they do a Google search to see what else comes up and there is a link to your latest white paper; at an industry tradeshow the company has a booth and is hosting a panel discussion…and the story continues. With consistent use of key messages across multiple touch-points your customers comes away with the sense that your company is worth their consideration.




Now you have a place to start engaging and driving purchase decisions. This model holds true for consumer and business marketing. People are people, whether they are buying high-end mission-critical software or a new plasma HDTV for their living room. They have a problem. Through your consistent messages, you have convinced them to consider your product or service as they evaluate their options. You still have to convince them that your product or solution is really the only one that really addresses all their needs – from technical specifications to user support, maintenance and financing (again, these apply to consumer and business purchases.)




Again, consistency is key. You customers need to see and feel that your company is honest and trustworthy. If there is a disconnect between what you say and what they experience, you will lose the sale, and probably the customer. So, while consistency in messaging is important…consistency in execution is critical. Both pieces of this puzzle need to be addressed in order for the whole thing to work. If you only focus on the messaging, then your experience will fall flat. If you don’t explain your differences and benefits, then you won’t get the chance to display your stellar experience. No matter how you look at it, consistency is the key to growing you brand and your business.