What is a company brand? Isn't it just a logo and some chosen colours a company always uses? This isn't the case read more to find out why and what a brand is all about.
This is one of the most recognisable images globally, but it's about more than golden arches and a red background. This is part of the brand of the company.
A brand is intangible but helps people identify with you. Showing this image above we could ask anyone what the company does, what they stand for, how they are perceived and receive largely similar responses. This is company brand.
So how do you go about achieving this for your brand or company?
Foundations of a company brand.
We have established a company brand is what people think about your company and how they identify with you, it's what makes your company unique. To build this brand we need to look at a number of different areas.
What Is your purpose?
Why is your company, product or service needed? What is the issue you are trying to solve? There will be competitors offering similar services so what makes you unique? Struggling with this try thinking about what makes you get out of bed every day to do what you do? (hint the sole answer shouldn't be to make money). You need to be able to convey this purpose in all your communications.
Who do you offer your products or services too?
Again this is unlikely to be one size fits all and you need to be able to identify your customers to look at them as a whole not just as purchasers. These are often referred to as buying personas HubSpot has a good page explaining how to identify them. Remember there will be more than one person with the same job title but with different personality types and personas. More on this in an upcoming blog or contact us if you want help identifying and building buying personas for your business.
Company Vision , Mission and Values
These can so often be described as the cornerstone of your company. Let's start with the values.
Values
Think of the brands you buy from time and time again, when there is probably a cheaper alternative. Why do you buys from them then, it's because of their values. Building a brand relies on emotional connections, because human beings have a basic underlying need to feel connected to others.
Think about how you can appeal to your customer’s emotional side, not just their logical needs. Your buying personas will help you with this. Try and think how you want your customer or investor to feel about your company or product. What values do you hold as a company? Ask the team if you have one, then ask family and friends if they recognise these when thinking about your company. You need to be brutally honest or your customers will see it as "corporate b*lls**t" and no one wants that.
Mission
Your mission statement shows concisely what you as a company want to achieve, how and who you want to support. It's typically quite short term and is the roadmap for how you achieve the company vision.
LinkedIn mission statement is
“To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
This is one of the best examples I have seen, it's clear and concise, it covers
What they want to achieve, making people more productive and successful.
How, by connecting them
Who the world's professionals
Vision
This describes where you ultimately want your customers or the world to be as a result of your company and its products.
so sticking with LinkedIn, their vision is
"Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce."
again its clear and concise and shows the vision for the future.
These foundations don't come quickly or easily and will take some time to develop. If you need further advice or a workshop on achieving this for your company please contact us.
Once you have the above in place you can start to think about how you represent yourselves internally and externally. This will drive the tone of your communications and the branding imagery, how its used and the colours to use. These are all important topics but for another day.
