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What is Branding?In One Word.... IDENTITYMaya Angelou possibly described a large portion of branding in her words about people. "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
That's similar to Branding. How your product/business is perceived by others. How your business makes them "feel." How they relate to their experience with you. |
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Think of your Branding as a set of collectives that make up your "IDENTITY." As people, we have personality characteristics, goals, mantras, philosophies, core values, and even how distinctive we look. Some people dress fun with bright, bold colors, and express themselves more loudly, while others may dress more conservatively or professional. It's the same with Branding.
Is your business more serious and professional? (Think of a bank.) Or do you have a relaxed and fun company? (Ice cream store) Your "Branding" should reflect who you are as a company. Sometimes your company is an extension of who you are personally, and other times the Branding for your company may have little in common with you and your personality. KNOW YOUR BRAND BEFORE YOU BRING IT TO THE PUBLIC. |
BRANDING ELEMENTS:
PURPOSE -Why you do what you do. VISION - What are you striving to achieve? MISSION - How you intend to achieve it. CORE VALUES - Much as with personal life, our Core Values determine our behaviors and decisions. On vacation in 2019, I saw "The Great Passion Play" in Eureka Springs, AR. (highly recommend!) There was a man who told a story as he was sculpting. He started with a huge blob of clay and as he molded the clay, he spoke about Jesus. When he reached the end of his story, he turned the sculpture around and the blob of clay was now a sculpture of Jesus. Jesus was his VISION. The movements of his hands molding the clay was his MISSION. |
What is Marketing?In One Word.... INFLUENCEHow you Share and Sell your Identity. Marketing, quite simply, is a collective of strategies used to promote your Brand/Identity. From your online presence (personal and professional pages), to print, commercial, radio. Everywhere you are and go, you are in "Marketing Mode" whether you recognize this or not. For better and worse, Social Media has made it where we market ourselves regardless of our professional status.
WWWD has spent years advising clients on what to say and how to present themselves online because hitting delete does not take content off the internet like people want to believe. Allowing the public to view your Facebook and other open forum content can be risky. From politics and religion, to how you conduct yourself or dress, you can lose jobs or not get hired should you share content an employer or business does not find suitable to their brand, and they are well within their right. Branding is akin to trust, and once broken can be difficult to regain. |
This is no different when owning a business. Business owners take risks every day they put their personal opinions online. I advise clients to weigh the options. Should they find their opinion necessary enough to run the risk of losing potential clients, then by all means, proceed. Otherwise, there are times it may be more prudent to remain silent. WWWD has stepped in to run damage control several times for clients and are prepared to do so in the future when needed.
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What are the Steps to Creating a "Branding Identity?"The first thing we advise is to KNOW WHO YOU ARE....
And second, know the proper way to communicate this to the public.Initially, identify your similarities and your differences from your competitors. Then, focus on the latter; because face it- in today's society, nobody cares about how you are the same. Zero in on what sets you apart. Ask yourself,
What makes me unique?
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