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Writer's picturemeganbethke

Branding Your Business Like A Boss



You are on the go and want a cup of coffee. Where do you choose to go? Are you a Starbucks person, or do think you get more bang for your buck at Dunkin Donuts. For us Minnesotans, maybe you’re a Caribou fanatic, or maybe you do away with all of the stereotypical options and go for a plain old cup from the gas station.


What influences you to make this simple everyday decision? Taste? Of course your taste preference plays a role in the decision, but there is probably something much deeper that these brands have perfected. Odds are, your coffee shop of choice is influenced by the way that it is branded.


Building a strong brand can be a powerful tool to create customer loyalty and relationships!


When you hear the word branding, what do you think of? Is it logos, colors, fonts, slogans, and jingles? Absolutely! But what if we told this is just the VERY TIP of the iceberg when it comes to building your brand.

 

What is branding?

Branding is the consistent experience that a business provides others in all aspects that the business exists.


What makes up a brand?

A brand is made up of just about EVERYTHING. It’s your environment, whether it be a physical store or a digital experience. It’s all signs, logos, imagery, posters, packaging, and visual representation of your brand. It’s your marketing aspect, both traditional and digital, your social media and website. It’s the content you put out for your customers and the information and expertise you provide them, like an educational blog, expert advice or a how-to newsletter. And finally, it’s your customer service experience and sales process that people interacting with your business receive.

 

In order to accurately represent your brand, it’s important to build it in a way that is true to your business. You need to strategize, plan, and market your brand to reflect exactly how you want your consumers and those interacting with your brand to portray you.


Let’s dive into the levels of brand equity, and how you can build a recognizable, well thought of, personable, and relationship building brand.


Level 1 - Brand Identity - Do customers know who you are?


The first level of building your brand identifying. Who are you? What do you do? Are people aware of your brand, and if so what are they aware of. If customers don’t even know your brand - how do they choose you?



Level 2 - Brand Meaning - What makes you unique?


Level two is the stuff you thought of when you began reading! Colors, fonts, slogans, logos, imagery, Santa Claus on a Coke can - these are the physical attributes that make your branding unique, and make you stand out. What is your brand voice? This also includes customers understanding the performance of your brand. What are you known for? What are you the best at?



Level 3 - Customer Response to your Brand - What’s the vibe?

Let’s talk about feelings - brand feelings that is. Level three in building brand equity with customers dives into the way your brand makes customers feel. Is your brand nostalgic? Empowering? Optimistic? Popular? Exclusive? What does your brand smell like? What memory does your brand spark in the customer's mind? If you can create a brand that makes customers feel a certain way you have dominated Level 3!


Don’t forget about judgments though. That is found here in level three, too. Customer judgements about your brand can be both positive or negative. Make sure customers are seeing your brand in the proper light, so they can make the right judgement call!



Level 4 - Brand Relationships - Your brand and your target audience; a match made in heaven

And we made it, the top tier of building your brand. You are in a relationship. At this level of brand equity, your customers not only recognize your brand, but also feel like your brand is an extension of them. By building your brand personality throughout these levels, your customers will form a connection with your brand, and you will form a connection with the customer as well. This helps you to create lasting customer relationships, and helps you to know your customers better than ever before.


 

When you are building your business’s brand, make sure you cover all four levels of brand equity. Every decision you make for your business from your mission statement, to the packaging, to the interior design affects your brand. With these tools you can make sure that your brand is the one your customers want to have a relationship with.


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