Branding or Blanding

Your Branding doesn't start with your customers.

It starts with taking a Deep Dive into YOU.

It's your character.

Branding has 3 elements

1.Character

‘Who’ is your Business? What’s your Point of Difference?

What Movie Star would your Business be? What type of Music would your Business be? A good place to start is the overlap of your Strengths, Interests and Target Market.

2.Clarity

‘What’ do you do? Is it Crystal Clear to your customers, what you do? Simplify, don’t Mystify.

3.Consistency

Having the same look and feel across all platforms.

Do you 'talk' differently on the phone than on your website???

Branding is a Structure that does not change. However its contents can change. 'Same but different'.

Here’s is an explanation of Branding using an advertisement that appears monthly in a magazine.

Imagine it's a 1 page Ad, divided into 4 equal squares

• Quadrant 1 is always a headline, it changes monthly

• Quadrant 2 is always a photograph, it changes monthly

• Quadrant 3 is always details, it changes monthly

• Quadrant 4 is always business and contact details; it never changes

In this example the format (branding) stays the same and the content changes.

If a Brand (meaning a business) changes its core focus (its Brand) too much, the whole business can collapse. E.g. A chain of Bookstores that adds gift-ware, coffee and food … so people get confused about 'what it is' - Is it a Bookstore or a Cafe? So popularity declines.

If it launched as a Bookstore/Cafe maybe that would have worked.

If a Brand adds products/services, that don't 'fit' with it’s core focus, they may fail. E.g. Coke adding different flavours that didn't catch on.

It’s all a delicate balance.

Storytelling

The oldest form of marketing is Storytelling.

From complex stories (e.g. Shakespeare) to simple stories (e.g. TV Commercials) the best stories are Entertaining, Informative, Inspiring and Poetic.

Don’t be afraid to reveal your stories. They're a part of your character - your Brand.

Your customers need to know you, to trust you.