A brand can be a product, company, organisation or even an individual. A brand is more than a name or a logo it is how you are made to feel. Having a strong brand builds trust and reduces perceived risk.

Branding is a perception held by your target audience about your business. That perception is made of many elements that are intrinsically linked together to be the sum of your brand. Your brand is about being distinctive from your competitors, about standing out and being different from those in your sector.

Building a strong brand is how to maintain the long term success of your company. However, there is no quick fix or magic formula, sorry if you are here for that, but instead it is about building a brand to be proud of over the long term for continued success.

Strong brands

We can probably all name brands that we buy from, we like and connect with. Here are a few brands that experience high brand equity:

All of these strong brands benefit from the following:

These are all attainable for every business no matter what the size. It takes time to achieve but most importantly it takes consistency. Be true to your brand purpose and be consistent with your brand to build equity.

Customers are looking for value

Customers today are looking for value and they have a wealth of information at their fingertips that they can utilise to find out more about your brand.  They will do their research before they buy.

With social media and online reviews it is quick and easy for potential customers to find out what others are saying about your brand. If there aren’t reviews to access then potential customers will ask about your brand and what people think of it or they might simply ask for recommendations as their starting point.

Credibility, reputation and customer satisfaction are paramount to your brand perception but customers and potential customers also put importance on how you manage your visual identity.

Build brand equity

Your aim as a business should be to build brand equity, to build your customers’ perception, to make them brand advocates of your business. To build brand loyalty.

It doesn’t matter if you are B2B or B2C the same principles apply.

It is really important to strengthen your brand presence to be consistent in order to have continued success.

The best thing to do is gather all your marketing materials together and look to see what you can improve, this blog on Time to reflect may help you.

Rebrand tips!!!!

If you need some serious brand surgery beyond Botox, enjoy the following clip from W1A where Siobhan from Perfect Curve talks about rebranding the BBC – one of our favs!

Tips to increase your brand reach

The following is a talk that Lesley Fettes did for the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce on Tips to increase your brand reach which maybe more helpful than W1A!!!