Brand Identify

Effectively Building Brand Identity
by Jeff Hilton

In today's intensely competitive marketplace, building a strong brandpersonality and positioning has not only never been more important, it has neverbeen more difficult to accomplish.

What Is Branding?

Branding is much more than simply marketing activity. Branding is theconsistent and creative use of all available corporate communications vehiclesto create a focused product position and identity in the mind of the customer orconsumer. It involves the advertising, public relations and sales promotiondisciplines, along with customer service, sales and Internet marketing. Yourcustomer's perception of your product or service is constantly in flux, changingand evolving with every competitive move and shifting trend. A strong brandingeffort must be focused and persuasive, but most of all consistent.

Why Branding Matters

Stop thinking of yourself as a manufacturer or supplier--put on your consumerhat for a moment. Each day you are exposed to approximately 4,000 marketingmessages or impressions, each one struggling for your attention. Which do yourespond to? Which do you recall? Most likely, you will remember those that reachyou with a singular and focused message that is communicated frequently. Forexample, Priceline.com owns the radio airwaves with one message: save money ontravel. Federal Express has spent millions convincing us that it is our bestoption when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight.

Over time, these messages and others like them become part of our culture andinevitably impact our purchasing habits. When the consumer approaches thatretail shelf and surveys multiple similar products all priced within reason, hewill make a purchase decision based upon which brand has carved out a niche inhis mind. That's why branding matters.

What Can Effective Branding Accomplish?

Consistent, effective branding accomplishes several important objectives:

1. It will generate increased sales over time. The key words here are"over time." Manufacturers and suppliers get tired of their marketingmessages much sooner than the consumer. That's an important but dangerousinsight, because it causes marketers to change their approach every time theyget bored or the competitive wind shifts. And usually they are not asking theconsumer how they feel about changing the message. The best advice is to staythe course.

2. It helps to improve and focus the creative product. If your message isclearly defined, the packaging and advertising and brochures you create willnaturally be more powerful and compelling to your customers.

3. It helps build internal team morale, communication
and output. Basically, effective branding puts everyone in the company on thesame page.

4. It clarifies and reinforces consumer awareness and attitudes.

5. It builds long term brand awareness, preference and loyalty for yourproducts.

6. It adds "value" to your product positioning. This becomesparticularly important for above-parity priced products where the consumerrequires additional incentive to pay a little extra.

What Makes Branding Tough?

Lack of money. Branding takes a lot of it. It also requires the employment ofan "investment mentality" that allows you to forgo immediate profitsto generate a greater return in the long haul. You can drop coupons and runpromotions and get a quick "bump" in sales every month, but thatcreates an expectation on the part of the retailer and consumer that you willalways run a special. Unless you are educating them about what your brand standsfor, consumers and retailers will eventually pass you by for the next hotdiscounted competitor. Short-term sales spikes can be deceiving. You are facingmonthly sales quotas, but what are you doing to build your long-term business?

Lack of patience. Branding takes time. If you don't plan to be in business infive years, then save your money and stop reading.

Lack of vision. If you don't have it, hire it.

Too much competition. It's out there in abundance in every category and it'sgetting worse. Successful natural product companies learn to compete harder andsmarter.

Consumers are older and better educated. As a result, they are morediscerning and sophisticated, and they have increased options and placesavailable to buy.

Start Today To Build A Stronger Brand

It's not too late to begin building a stronger brand identity. Here are somethings you can do immediately:

Know your customers. Research their needs and preferences. Talk to them infocus groups. Include a short survey packaged with the product and offer a $2rebate for those who send it in. Post a survey on your web site and offer acoupon to those who complete it.

Define "marketing" in your organization. Many companies have anarrow view of marketing. Every form of outreach to your vendors, your tradecustomers and your retailers is part of your marketing effort. Each must beconsidered when determining how to talk about your brand.

Centralize your marketing efforts. Consolidate your marketing activity withfewer partners, or bring those partners together on a regular basis to share thevision. Internally, someone must champion the cause of coordinating marketingmessages for consistency and focus. Who is that person? Find him.

Put enough gas in the car. Unless you can spend 10 to15 percent of net saleson brand building (and even more in the early stages), you might be better offinvesting your money elsewhere until you can.

Utilize the Internet. As household penetration increases over the next fewyears, more and more consumers (and retailers) will be purchasing productsonline. Do you have an Internet strategy? With more than 200 million userscurrently online, can you afford not to? The Internet will eventually change theway people shop. There are basically two types of people on the Internet: thosewho are spending money and those who are making money. Which will you be?

Sharpen your creative message. Find examples of all your ads and brochuresand press releases and packaging and merchandising materials. Now look at themas one unit. Do they speak with one voice? Granted, they may promote differentproducts and services within your line. But do they look like they came from thesame company? Do they communicate the same core message about what your brandname stands for? If so, congratulations. If not, you've got some work to do.Don't be too proud to look for outside help.

Nothing is more important yet more difficult than building brand identity foryour products and services. Resolve to start now. Invest the time and money--anddon't look back.

Jeff Hilton is president of the Integrated Marketing Group. He can becontacted at (801) 538-0777, or visit www.imgbranding.com.