By Jennifer Holland, Certified Brand Strategist, Holland People+Brands
I often ask participants in my Build Your Brand Workshops this question, and the typical answers I hear are that a brand is a “logo,” “name,” “tagline,” or palette of “colors, fonts and icons.”
Well, the truth is, a brand can be a combination of those things. But, they have more to do with your brand’s visual identity and are what people “see” as representative of your business.
A brand is so much more than this, however. Your brand is your promise to your customer. It’s the total of every connection a prospect or customer has with your business. This includes the perceptions, memories, and emotions you provoke.
Brand is all about the complete customer experience.
For example, when your prospect gets a postcard in the mail from you, everything they can see, read, and touch come into play. Then, if they respond to your postcard and visit your store, the interaction that prospect has with your employees is also a part of your brand.
And, of course, the quality of your products and services (and the outcomes they provide) will make or break your brand.
Your brand helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace and gives your audience a meaningful, emotional connection to you.
All your brand elements need to work together to capture attention, help the right market understand what you can do for them, and ultimately have them feel “this is exactly what I’ve always been looking for.”
When your brand triggers the “this is for me” emotion, you’ve hit the sweet spot in resonating with your prospect.
That’s how you capture an audience, engage them, and convert their loyalty to more sales and more profits for your business.
In the coming months, we’ll explore how you can create more opportunities to make your business memorable.
In April, I’ll help you discover the who, what, why, and how of your brand.
See you then.