How Small Companies Can Enhance Their Brands with Big Company Brand Style
by Paula Satow, Satow Strategies, LLC
Here’s a chicken and egg question for you.
Which came first -- the big, successful company or its highly valuable and powerful brand?
Does the quality of Intel chips make the “Intel Inside” swirl valuable or does the swirl make the chips worth more? Is Starbucks coffee really that much better than its competitors or is it their unmistakable brand identity down to their drink names and store furnishings make people want to order a Frappuccino every chance they get?
The answer is really no chicken and egg scenario at all. Great companies build their brand portfolio in unison with their product portfolio. That means that to be a great company -- to brand like the big guys -- you should be building your brand at the same time that you’re building your company. Branding is expensive. If you don’t have the budget how can you best accomplish this? Good branding is both an art and a science, and a complex one at that. To simplify and focus on what’s most important, here are SIX KEYS TO brand your company in true BIG COMPANY BRANDING STYLE:
1. Begin by defining your Unique Value Proposition and positioning statement. Figure out what’s really important and unique about your firm – the one thing that makes you truly different from the rest of the competition. Now encapsulate that unique value proposition into one statement that positions you as ‘faster...better...cheaper’ than the rest.
2. Define your brand architecture.Determine whether or not you have the best name for your company and/or offerings. Then, establish a basic hierarchy of how you use those names to help your company get ‘credit’ and brand value for the products and services you offer.
3. Define key messages to communicate your brand.Now that you’ve established your positioning and branding structure, you need a set of powerful key messages that can help convey this information to your marketplace. These messages will serve as the heart of your communications deliverables.
4. Develop a powerful identity and suite of communications mediaWith your brand messaging in sharp focus and your key messages poised to go, it’s time to define and develop a communications program -- including your website, brochure, e-newsletter and press releases with a singular “look and feel” that effectively reflect the new power of your brand.
5. Continue to invest in your brand on an on-going basis and be consistent in your messaging. At this stage, you should be proud that you have a solid communication methodology that reflects the way the biggest and most successful firms brand their company, products and services. However, it’s important to remember that you’ve only just begun. If you truly want to “brand like the big guys”, you’ve got to consistently invest in your brand and your messaging. A good rule of thumb is to invest an average of 10 - 15% of your gross sales on marketing.
6. “Mark” your brand property through effective trademark management. Remember that, when it all boils down, a brand is largely a legal mark of ownership so protect the brand value you create through effective, legal trademark management. While there’s a lot more to building a great brand, these six steps should help give any company or organization a head start toward building brand value that’s comparable to the biggest and the best, value designed to last over time.
When you’re ready to brand like the big guys, contact Satow Strategies at 602-481-1942 or info@satowstrategies.com. We're ready to help you succeed.
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