You are here: Home / Archives for Branding
July 22, 2012 by

Don’t Copy Your Competitor.

copy cat brandThis afternoon I passed no fewer than 4 trucking company vehicles all sporting corporate logos that had a swish icon. They were either horizonal or vertical, red or blue. I’m sure if we check back with each of these companies, none of the images existed before Nike and their swoosh became synonymous. I imagine none of these companies realize that being a follower does nothing to strengthen their brands but rather strengthens the leader because of the similarities of image.

A lot of business people think wrongly that if they use a swoosh in their logos they will be on their way to fame and fortune. Let’s face it, Nike has worked very hard since it’s beginning to develop a brand that builds a strong active relationship with it’s customers. Their icon could have been a box – it is the association in the customers mind that is important. As Nike grew, it’s icon came to represent it. Much as Target and Apple are doing. Because of the reputation Nike has built, the association with the swoosh icon is strong and has cache because of it. Not the other way around.

Develop your brands to “Lead not follow.™” Differentiation is the goal, with it come the rewards.

File under: Blogs & Blogging, Branding, Business, How To, Marketing, Media, News
July 16, 2012 by

The Toughest Thing About Branding

branding expertsEvery day – day in and day out you are your brand. It’s a forever effort. If you know anything about branding you’ll appreciate the fact that a nurtured brand works for you. Understanding what you stand for and delivering on those values, makes for a pretty compelling message to your customers. That goes for every type of brand. It can be you – your personal brand, your company’s corporate brand, your community’s place brand, your staff’s internal brand – any type of brand. The goal of any brand is to differentiate so that establishing that ever coveted relationship with it’s targeted audience is made easier.

Easier of course meaning – resonating. Getting their attention, being top of mind in that category. Definitely not easier in execution. That takes genuine effort. We all recognize that no matter how much positive effort we devote to our brands, sh*t stills happens and mostly through no fault of our own. Those negatives have to be put in their place, and allow us to move forward yet again. Sometimes things don’t happen soon enough. As the month trudges on, sales figures for the month are creeping up, but sometimes not as fast as you like. The sad truth in any business is that adversity is an unwelcome cousin. They challenge us at every turn in the road to greatness. Your brand is everything in business. Adhering to your brand values when challenged, is sometimes the hardest thing. Putting food on the table is quite a motivator. It can also be a temptation to surrender your brand for the quick buck. You see it all around you.

Staying true to your brand will win out in the long haul. Whether you have the stomach for it is the question? Branding is not easy. It expects you to take the high road. Branding expects you to present a brand image that makes you look larger and more successful. It doesn’t want you to get the cheapest business cards, or print your flyers on the office printer. Branding doesn’t want you to put the screws to your sales team and expect them to get the sale at any cost. Branding doesn’t expect you to go to market advertising multiple services and master of none. Branding especially doesn’t want your to regard re-branding as a changing of the logo. That would just be wrong.

The toughest thing about your brand is simply that – your brand. Your reputation – what you stand for. We all face adversity – how we deal with it is the true measure of a brand. We can bend with the wind, take a short cut. The true leaders embrace adversity and see it as a catalyst for moving forward. Much of that is attitude. Believe in yourself- your brand and you will welcome success at your doorstep once again. As tough as things get from time to time, never (or try not to) let down your guard. We all lose from time-to-time, just don’t let it get the best of you. Do as my motto challenges – Lead Don’t Follow. Simple as that is, it WILL keep you moving forward.

File under: Brand Booster 21, Branding, Business, How To, Marketing
July 13, 2012 by

What to Consider When Printing Your Logo

Is your logo ready for the printers? Transferring your business logo from the screen to a printed version is a great way to enhance your brand recognition, but it’s more complicated than you think.  Since your logo is a direct reflection of the company,  it’s very important that your logo be designed and perfected for the print medium. Here are a few important considerations when preparing your logo for print.

The Logo

Make sure this is the final version of the logo you want to print. Consider the purpose of your logo, where it will be printed, the size, the colors – everything.  Having to re-print a batch of business cards or posters because the logo was slightly off not only creates a bunch of paper waste, but also hurts the company wallet.

Printer Format

If you are working with a professional printer, you should talk to them about what formats they prefer to receive. Generally, PDF files (both vector and raster) are accepted and are of good-enough quality. Vector graphics are comprised of points, lines and curves that are all mathematically generated. They can be scaled from the size of a business card to the size of a billboard without losing any of the image quality or detail.

Raster graphics, on the other hand, should only be printer at 300 dpi. A 3” x 3” logo is equivalent to a 900px x 900px image, but if you stretch it to 6” x 6”x, the pixels double to 1800px x 1800px. Now your computer has to guess what to do with the 3,150,000 blank space created from the 6” x 6” image. This is done using a specific algorithm, but the image will still become blurry and lose detail as it’s stretched larger.

It’s also good to know what fonts your printer has on their machines. Whenever possible, you should embed fonts or create outlines of the text. Not doing so may lead to delays or ending up with the wrong prints.

Resolution

Images for web are usually 72 dpi (dots per inch), which is standard for screen resolution.  However, your logo resolution should be a minimum of 300 dpi for the actual print. Most commercial printers print at 300 dpi, though if yours can go higher it is a good rule of thumb to use the highest resolution possible.

Printing in low resolution will result in blurry images which will impress no one. However, if it is a vector file, you shouldn’t have much of a problem as long as it was saved properly.

Use CMYK

You need to use CMYK color format to create a logo. CMYK is designed specifically for accurate professional printing, unlike the RGB color format which is better suited for the web and on-screen publishing. Most printers use CMYK ink or toner cartridges to print your images and logos – converting from RGB to CMYK can cause the colors to become muted and washed out.

It is better to use true black (100K black) for small text to help keep it clean and crisp, and dark charcoal or grey shades for larger areas of black.

After checking everything, you should run some test prints. It may cost a little extra, but test prints allow you to see it as a tangible thing and then change any last minute details before sending a large order to the printers.

File under: Branding, Marketing
July 4, 2012 by

The Leadership Brand Principal

Corporate cultureI recently sat through a lecture from Vancho Cirovski from Peak Consulting – a culture specialist for sports organizations. The topic was ‘Leadership Culture.’ It was a fascinating discussion and it got me thinking about how it relates to branding. Since my take on branding positions a business as a leader, Vancho’s perspective on leadership culture particularly hit home with me. His comments on authenticity and genuine leadership are the foundation of every successful brand.

Imagine identifying an organization’s true influencers. These individuals are not always the obvious ones. They are none the less talents that must be nurtured and allowed to blossom. A major challenge to a brand leading and being successful in the marketplace is staying true to the positioning and that takes powerful leadership. This is often quite a challenge to a business’s leadership. They must absolutely believe in their positioning. The company’s leaders have to possess a culture that embraces their difference and has the ability to grow from it. Positioning based on a differentiation strategy establishes the company as a leader in their category. That claim can’t be simply advertising spin but a genuine claim to greatness. It is not enough to simply say you are the leader, but the brand must be able to live up to it. The supporting culture must be such, that it supports and drives the leadership position. Anything less and the brand will implode on itself.

The underlying culture is key to sustaining a long term benefit from its positioning. You would stand to benefit immensely if you are able to identify individuals and behaviors that support the brand positioning. Imagine the effectiveness in rolling out the positioning among employees for instance if you could positively identify who among them have leadership skills that would qualify them to be a best choice to be on the branding team. That individual would be key in influencing their peers. Encouraging leadership within the corporate culture will absolutely support the brand leadership and by extention the brand itself.

If the positioning was merely spin, the brand would quickly unravel as there would be no foundation on which to grow. Effective communication throughout the company when done strategically allows the leaders to be more confident that the organization is aligned with the brand.

From my experience leadership of the brand and its supporting leadership culture are the two underlying components of any successful re-launch of a brand. One feeds on the other, culminating in a powerful message that resonates with the audience.

In closing, the makeup of your brand’s corporate culture determines if it has the moxy to support a leadership brand. Discovering deficiencies early will provide you the impetus to correct a cultural wrong and allow you to embrace the true leaders within your brand culture. Only this will ensure future success

File under: Brand Booster 21, Branding, Business
June 29, 2012 by

Why Maintaining Font and Style is Important for Branding

A successful brand is all in the details. It’s easy to get caught up in designing that perfect logo or snappy tagline for your business, while ignoring the finer points of your brand strategy. Fonts are often overlooked. Many people take them for granted while dashing off e-mails or memos, but underestimate the importance of typography and risk devaluing all the hard work you’ve poured into your brand.

It’s important to get things right the first time. Choose a font style and color that best represents your business and then stick with it. Consistency is key. Keep these points in mind when developing a font you’ll be happy with for years to come.

Find the Fonts that Work

Search for font styles that best fit within your company’s branding strategy. Think of your business as a person; what kind of personality do you want to convey? Is your company an aggressive sales corporation or a high-end clothing store? Serif fonts typically offer more elegant characters while sans serif fonts are more clean and modern. Also consider whether any style variations would be appropriate, such as italics, light, regular or bold. Your font should always function as an extension of your brand.

Plan Ahead

Make sure your fonts reflect not only what the company is today, but also what it might evolve into 10 or 20 years in the future. Could your business change in any way that would make, for example, an extravagant serif font seem out of place? If you don’t consider this, your business could face a dilemma: abandon the current font and all the brand recognition it has already built up or stick with a design that no longer works for your business.

Determine Your Font’s Function

Where will people be reading your font? Business cards? Billboards? Online? It’s often better to use a sans serif font for websites whereas serif fonts often work well for longer documents. Try using fonts with contrasting characteristics for headlines and body text, which will build visual texture to your document or web page. You can also use all similar fonts for a more streamlined look.

Keep Things Consistent

Companies that are inconsistent in how they use fonts will come across as unprofessional. Carefully chosen fonts can help deliver a strategic message, whereas random diversity mutes your brand’s voice and can portray a lack of structure. This is especially true for websites. Never use one font for the Home page and another font for the Contact Us page, for example. This can confuse readers as they navigate the site and can make information difficult to read. Even print brochures or newsletters can be confusing if fonts are not kept consistent.

Develop a Global Style Sheet

Ensure that everyone who will be updating the website, printing new business cards or tweaking your brochure always consults your company’s style guide. This document is the font bible for your business, outlining which colors and styles can be used for certain materials. It may also contain information on the use of images and positioning of text. Developing a comprehensive style sheet can take some time, but it will pay off by ensuring your brand’s voice doesn’t become muddled by inconsistencies.

File under: Branding, Web Development
June 25, 2012 by

A Personal Branding Backfire

Personal brandingHow often do you get the opportunity to make a strikingly positive impression on people only to quash it with a bout of selfishness? An acquaintance of mine recently had the unfortunate circumstance of having their home burn to the ground resulting in the loss of everything. You can imagine their shock and sense off loss.

This person had on their schedule a booked and paid for networking workshop. In their state of affairs they contacted the organizer and requested a refund since they were in no state at this present time to focus on the event. The facilitator of the networking workshop made a poor choice.

Instead of sympathizing with their situation and taking the high road, they complained that the bank may now charge them fees to refund. They resisted making this person’s plight easier. They made it obvious that the money they would be losing was more important than that person’s loss. How small of them. Their brand diminished in a major way with that approach.

That told me that their brand wasn’t about helping it was about the money. Instead of jumping to help this person and suck up any financial inconvenience it may have cost them which would have caused this person to brag to no end how considerate they were being -they chose the opposite. This facilitator has done real damage to their brand. Any good will is now lost with one statement.

The gauling thing that added insult to injury is that this person ended the conversation with their feeling sorry for the person’s loss and if there was anything that they could do – just ask. Sad thing is they missed an opportunity and didn’t get it.

It’s not often our brands get an opportunity to really show the kind of stuff we are made from. Every day I try my best to over deliver for my clients. I don’t charge for every blessed thing. Over delivering is part of what my brand stands for. Our brands must stand proud in good times and in bad. Seizing opportunities when they present themselves is key to growth. My analysis of the situation outlined above is that the facilitator was in a hard place financially and only saw money leaving instead of opportunity coming. They didn’t really believe their own brand values which were probably determined in good times. This person had a helpful brand prior, now has a selfish brand. That few dollars lost to bank fees will now cost them thousands in future business.

File under: Branding, Business, Communication, Employer Branding, Personal Branding
June 18, 2012 by

Branding in a Crowded Marketplace: Differentiation is Key

The rate at which brands succeed and fail in today’s ever-changing society is mind blowing. With our fast-paced evolving world, brands are discovering that their previous strategies are no longer effective.

While simply slapping a logo everywhere may have been a successful approach several years ago, today it is simply ineffective at cutting through all the market noise and attracting consumer attention. The market is overcrowded and consumers are inundated with logos on a daily basis. Brands now need a connection with the consumer.

In our current marketplace, simply slapping your logo on everything just won’t work anymore. Consumers want more depth than that. They want captivating stories, new experiences, and variety that is still “on brand.” Rather than simply repeating a logo, brands should adapt to the new marketplace by being unified around several small ideas that manifest themselves differently in design applications yet still feel coherent.

Today’s consumers are demanding. They no longer respond to any well designed logo, but “fall in love” with brands that present a unique personality. The logo, as well as the brand, has to come across as special. Brands need to have meaning and purpose to them and a story and design appearance that customers can relate to.

While this may seem like daunting news to any organization trying to build its brand, the solution to the problem of an overcrowded marketplace and increasingly fickle consumer is basic: differentiation. The fact that brands need to stand out from the competition has been a truism for as long as businesses have been in existence, but is more important than ever as more and more people start up a new company and enter an already competitive global marketplace. For any brand, big or small, it is important to look inwardly and ask yourself the following questions:

  • How are you different?
  • What do offer that none of your competitors offer?
  • How can you use that differentiation to craft a brand identity?

The simple truth in connecting with consumers lies in these three questions. By determining what sets your brand apart, whether it is a revolutionary concept or simply excellent customer service, you can build a branding strategy around that differentiation that consumers can connect to.

Standing apart from the crowd does not mean that you have to reinvent the wheel; it simply means that you need to find what makes your organization different and get that message to your customers. In today’s world, success is achieved not from posting a logo everywhere possible but building a message of uniqueness to share with your consumers.

File under: Branding, Business
«Older Posts
Newer Posts»