Let me ask you a question… how is your action plan going?
I know, I know, I am always asking about action plans, but here is a reason. My hope is that one day when I ask, you’ll decide to go and take a look at it.
Honing in is really going to help you effortlessly grow your business. The reality is, you have to know who you’re looking for before you can ever find them. It would do a soldier no good with a “ready-shoot-aim mentality. The same with sales, the same with marketing, the same with your funnel. And you have to know who you are before you can look for anyone else. This brings us to our topic, your brand!
What’s a Brand Anyway
The reality is, by communicating your brand, you can duplicate it. You see, I have a belief that in order to successfully accomplish something we must first understand what it is we are setting out to do.
I took some time and I looked up the many definitions of brand. And I really liked how Wikipedia broke it down. Now, I know, we’re not supposed to trust Wikipedia for facts, but this is a definition.
Wikipedia defines brand as, “the name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s product distinct from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising. ”
The idea of a brand initially comes from livestock branding. Livestock branding was adopted to differentiate one person’s cattle from another’s. Each herd had its own distinct symbol burnt into the cow’s hide with a branding iron.
You can really take that analogy and apply it to your business. A great example of a modern brand is Coca-Cola.
Brand Elements
If we’re setting out to achieve something or to create something, we really need to understand what it is we’re trying to achieve and create.
Brands are made up of a number of key elements:
- Name – A word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept.
- Logo -The visual that identifies the brand.
- Tagline – A catchphrase that is associated with a specific brand. (ex: the quicker picker upper)
- Graphics – A trademarked image that is recognizable as associated with a specific brand (ex: the dynamic ribbon – Coca-Cola, the swoosh – Nike)
- Shapes – A trademarked shape that is associated with a specific brand (ex: the shape of a Coke bottle, the shape of a Volkswagen Beetle)
- Colors
- Sounds – A unique tune or set of notes that denote a brand (ex: NBC’s chime)
- Scents – (ex: the rose/jasmine musk scent of Chanel #5)
- Taste – (ex: KFC’s 11 herbs and spices)
- Don’t forget, customer relationship management and customer service is part of your brand, too
So, why is all of that important? Because you need to understand how many elements, how many parts are incorporated in your unique brand.