Brand It

When you rub away all of the jargon around branding you come down to
the simple notion that a brand is a mental shorthand used by customers
to summarise the benefits it offers them and the need it fulfils. It
encapsulates all of the tangible and intangible elements of a company's
offer to the market. A simple notion - but a very powerful marketing tool.

The two strongest brands in the world, Coca Cola and McDonalds, have
been built through delivering a consistent customer message and
experience... oh, and loads of expensive advertising.

As a small or medium size business you don't have the advertising reach
of Coca Cola, but you can deliver a consistently positive customer
promise and experience. Over time your customers will know what to
expect and won't be disappointed. They will add that to their mental
shorthand list and your company brand will take shape and grow.

To summarise, the business benefits you will enjoy by creating a brand or
strong corporate identity include:

	The ability to increase margins by competing on quality rather than price alone.
	To add perceived customer value and satisfaction: "I think it's better and I will therefore pay more - I believe your promise"
	Generate customer loyalty that will seek out your brand and in doing so become less beholden to the power of the distributors/sellers
	Raise the company/product profile

More compelling reasons to create a strong corporate identity or brand:-

	Compared to their competitors, high growth companies develop products twice as often with a consistent brand.
	They dominate niche markets by promoting a brand.
	Companies with strong corporate identities and brands last the test of time, consider these examples:
	Heinz, Dell, McDonalds, Marks and Spencer, Virgin, Carphone Warehouse

Steps to creating a brand

1. Be clear about who you are targeting, define the target audience as closely as possible

2. Identify the needs of your target audience through research

3. Use this knowledge to develop a proposition that differentiates your company, products and services from the rest of your competitors. A good positioning statement should be emotionally charged and differentiated: e.g. "Our Nursery; the most creative, enjoyable place for noisy junior kids & their mums"

4. Create a brand personality.

6. Produce a creative brief to develop the new corporate identity/branding through a visual identify which can be used in marketing material e.g. stationery, literature and web sites

7. Develop and implement a marketing programme to communicate the corporate identity/brand and its benefits to the target audience.

Impetus has created successful brands for companies of all sizes and in many sectors and markets, eg:

	Igence
	Hilife
	Payment Solutions
	Art of Living

If you would like to discuss the relevance of branding to your business and how we can help you develop a corporate identity or brand to achieve some or all the benefits discussed above, we would be delighted to talk to you. Contact us for an initial discussion by telephone or email.