Developing a brand identity. Who Am I to You?
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:50PM For those who spend time with marketing professionals, you know the lingo: branding, identity, visual messaging. Here is a primer on what it means for your business and why you should care about it, no matter how small your budget or your company.
Companies need identities just like the people who work in them. Think about all the organizations you come into contact with, whether they have thought about branding or not. Sports teams, corner gas stations, big corporations, your bank, not to mention clubs and non-profits, politicians, even schools-all have an identity of some kind, not always what they wish their identity was. For instance, all the local BP gas station owners are wishing they had a different logo over their pumps at the moment. That "branding" is the psychological sense that customers hold of the organization or business. When a company brands itself, it chooses to control it's own identity through verbal and visual messaging rather than letting the customers "figure out" what the company is all about. There are obvious limits to what you can do to change or create a perception, but those limits are pushed through good brand identity planning and implementation.
Let's take a local car repair business as an example. They had a nondescript identity. It was the "corner garage" and their customers came primarily from referrals. They asked JonesHouse to help them with their "marketing" in the sense that they needed a simple website. We could see they needed an identity even more. We helped them to define themselves with the use of classic/collector automobile images and bits of chrome and custom paint to convey a fun sense of "Auto as Art" in their visual branding. This gave the psychological feel of quality and attention to detail we all want when we have our cars repaired. The psychological message we intended to convey was "If they can appreciate a classic car, they will do a good job on mine." Because we know how to make things "look good" the identity of the shop improved-we tapped into a cultural love for a beautifully restored vintage car. But the verbal messaging emphasized the affordable aspect of the shop. "We provide high-end car repair at inexpensive rates." This new sense of who the company is can be incorporated into all aspects of marketing, from business cards, to website, to radio spots. The consistency of identity gets the company noticed.
We think it is amusing how often we need to defend the value of a good visual marketing plan. Too many businesses think they don't need one. A quick glance at the marketing budgets of large corporations should convince even the smallest business that image matters. We accept that first impressions count when we meet a new client and we spend money on our own "imaging" every time we go to the barber, the mall or the salon. What your Brand Identity says about you can be a powerful tool to improve your business both from within and without. This is more than having a logo, it helps define your company for yourself, your employees and your clients. Regardless of size or budget, you need to Brand and you need an Identity Plan.
Want another example of a terrific brand identity plan? APPLE!
This article was originally posted in July of 2010 in Dan Monge's Mac IT Pros E-Newsletter.
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