Search
 

10 Steps to Building a Great Brand

Gianfagna Strategic Marketing / Blog  / Marketing Strategy  / 10 Steps to Building a Great Brand

10 Steps to Building a Great Brand

Your brand is one of your most valuable assets. It conveys the highest value you deliver, serves as an emotional shortcut to what your organization stands for, sets you apart from everyone else in your marketplace, and forms the foundation of a smart marketing strategy.

How do you build a great brand? Here are 10 key steps.

1.  Audit your marketing and communications to evaluate your current brand identity.

  • Study all customer communications and marketing materials.
  • Determine the messages you are delivering about your company and your products and services in every marketing channel and customer touchpoint.
  • Pay closest attention to the in-person customer experience—how customers feel when they interact with a member of your staff.

2. Determine how your customers see you – their perceptions of your organization and your brand and what they value most about you.

  • Talk to customers, prospects, the sales team, and the customer service representatives who work with customers every day.
  • Try to see your company’s strengths and weaknesses through independent eyes. Be brutally honest.

3. Pinpoint the unique value your organization – and only your organization – delivers to customers.

  • Determine what you do better than any competitor.
  • Focus on the benefits you offer and the ways you improve customers’ lives.

4. Identify and capitalize on your natural branding advantages, such as:

  • An established reputation for excellence;
  • Superior technology or product capabilities;
  • A new company direction or the launch of a major new product line that creates an opportunity to reposition your company to customers or prospects;
  • Endorsements by recognized authorities in your marketplace.

5. Decide what you want your brand to stand for – the attributes you want customers to associate with your brand.

  • Determine the expectations prospects and customers should have of your brand every time they encounter it.
  • Clarify the brand’s “persona” or point of view.

6. Create a graphic identity that establishes a distinct logo and look for your organization, differentiates you from every other resource, and visually communicates your brand attributes.

7. Create a short, memorable positioning tagline that succinctly conveys the most important benefit, advantage, or distinction you offer in the marketplace.

8. Develop core marketing messages that capitalize on your strengths and become the copy foundation for all your marketing materials — the “proof points” that support your brand promise.

9.  Develop and distribute guidelines for using the brand and graphic identity across all marketing channels and customer communications.

10. Deploy the brand:

  • Make a splash in the marketplace with your new brand by launching a highly visible marketing campaign in multiple media to showcase your new identity.
  • Apply your new branding guidelines consistently to marketing communications in all media (advertising, print materials, web marketing, social media, direct mail, e-mail, retail point-of-purchase displays, trade shows, product shipments, etc.).
  • Remember that the way your customers are treated is the most important element of your branding strategy. Train every member of your staff to understand your brand and deliver on your brand promise with every customer interaction.

 

12 Comments
  • Brian Cockman

    Great tips for anyone who wants to brand their company or organization the right way. Thanks for sharing!

    June 22, 2010 at 3:28 pm
  • tvguy

    i just wanna thank you for sharing your this info on your blog

    Sent from my iPad 4G

    July 19, 2010 at 3:04 am
  • Munther Kalai

    Great info. Thanks a lot for sharing. Looking forward to reading more about the same subject from others.

    September 5, 2010 at 7:06 am
  • Allen Resha

    Face it your BRAND is your lifeblood on the web. It will either make you or break you. As this article points out YOU MUST take the proper actions and use analytics to see if your brand is working.

    When people look at you they ask 3 Questions!

    1. Who Are You?
    2. What Do You Have to Offer?
    3. Why Should I Care?

    Face it people are about themselves in nature. Use this to your advantage!

    January 22, 2011 at 1:48 pm
  • Jeff

    Great post! Your brand is essential to the success of your business. However, it is extremely difficult to to build a successful brand. Online competition is fierce! It is crucial to stay diligent and to work extremely hard!

    July 10, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Show Buttons
Hide Buttons