Brand identity

Your brand is one of the most valuable
assets of your company. When correctly built and promoted, it can add immense value to your business and allow
you to command a higher price for your
products or services while at the same time
keeping your customers loyal. Companies
of any size can benefit from a strong brand,
and more and more small businesses are
starting to focus on building, maintaining
and growing their brands.

Smart Business spoke with Jonathan
Ebenstein, vice president of marketing at
Skoda Minotti, to learn more about the value of a strong brand, how to develop one
and what benefits it accrues for a company.

How do you define a brand?

A brand is the promise, the big idea and
the expectations that reside in each individual’s mind about a product, service or
company. Think of it this way: Products are
created in a factory; brands are created in
the mind.

How does a company benefit from having a
strong brand?

When all things are equal, price typically
becomes the determining factor. Having a
strong brand takes price out of the equation and allows for larger profit margins
and increased profitability. Just think of
how many times you have found yourself
willing to pay a little bit extra in order to
own a name brand. With increased profitability and strong brand loyalty, a well-branded company will be better positioned
to not only ride out an economic downturn, but to actually thrive. Meanwhile,
weaker branded competitors often suffer
and, in some cases, fail all together.

In addition, strong brands attract valuable employees and business partners,
adding even more value and credibility to
your organization. Strong brands provide
companies the credibility and leverage to
successfully expand new products or service offerings into new markets and industries. Every company, product, city or even
person can reap these benefits if they focus
on building and maintaining their brands.

Why should a company invest in building a
strong brand identity?

It makes it easier for the consumer to
purchase by limiting and, in some cases,
eliminating the competitive options from
the decision-making process. For example:
You’ve got a car packed with kids and
you’ve been driving for five hours and need
to stop to eat. Faced with the choice of
McDonalds or Uncle Rico’s Hamburger
Palace, which place would you go?
McDonald’s, of course. Why? Because you
know exactly what you are going to get:
Happy Meals, shakes and french fries, and
the kids are going to love it. Another reason to invest in a strong brand identity is
that it makes it easier for your sales force
to sell because it brings in more opportunities with higher margins.

How does a company build a successful
brand?

It starts internally with every employee,
from CEO to receptionist. Your people are
your best source of internal evaluation,
insight and information because they live
and touch every aspect of the business.

They are also your most important marketing tools. So it is imperative that they be
included in the brand development process
because as ambassadors of your brand,
they will all be charged with the responsibility of delivering on the brand promise.
Including everyone in the brand-building
phase gives them ownership. It makes it
theirs. This is essential because they are
the ones who need to own, sell and defend
the brand everyday.

Employees are just the starting point. You
have to do your homework from an external standpoint, as well. Analyze how your
competitors have positioned and differentiated themselves so that you do not duplicate their brand messaging. Next, validate
what you’ve come up with by interviewing
customers, ex-customers, prospects, industry experts, business partner, etc. See
what they have to say. They’ll tell you if
they think you can deliver on your brand
promise.

Is it an expensive process to create a brand?

The return on investment on a branding
process is not immediate, so you have to
look at the expense of developing a brand
as an investment in your company that
will, over time, yield increased dividends. If
the process is done right, and the brand is
properly leveraged and maintained over
time, the ROI will far exceed any upfront
dollars you spend.

Is branding restricted to just larger companies?

Absolutely not. Any company, no matter
its size can reap the advantages of a strong
brand. In fact, having a strong brand can be
even more beneficial for small- to mid-sized companies because it gives them a
distinct advantage over similarly sized
competitors who typically lack a strong
brand identity of their own.

JONATHAN EBENSTEIN is vice president of marketing with
Skoda Minotti, based in Mayfield Village. Reach him at (440)
449-6800 or [email protected].