Your brand is one of your greatest assets. It’s not just your logo, slogan and design scheme, but your customers’ total experience of your business. Your brand is in your customer promise, your business values, your personality, the way you talk to your customers. It’s in the way you package your service and answer your phone.

Communicating your brand clearly and honestly to your customers will spread confidence and goodwill. It is a badge of trust that will set you apart from competitors and can give you a lasting competitive edge.

Businesses must fully commit to delivering their brand values. If not, it can quickly lead to distrust amongst customers.

Your brand values

Before you can develop your brand identity, you will have to understand what the core values of your business are, what your business mission is and how you differ from the competition.

You must also be sure that what you want to tell your customers about your business and your offer matches what your target customer segments want and what you actually deliver. It’s no use developing a premium brand if your target market just wants value for money, for example; and a brand based on friendly service will not survive long if your staff are unhelpful.

Maximising your brand

This is where your name and logo come to the fore. Good brand design gives you a consistent image that will enable people to recognise you immediately. Trade marking can help ensure that your distinctive brand image is protected against competitors.

Your brand marketing must connect to and emphasise your brand values across everything you do. 

If you sell a range of products, you’ll need to ensure that they all fit together within a brand strategy that makes sense. If you’re a luxury goods firm and you decide to produce a cheaper range, it would be wise to develop a separate brand identity so you don’t deter established customers. While you can stretch your brand to take advantage of new opportunities, your brand will be damaged if you fail to maintain a consistent focus on your core brand values.