Know-How Exchange : Branding

Branding is much more than a slogan and logo. It is everything that a prospect sees/hears about you, including:

- past interactions (purchases, service calls, sales calls, etc.)
- what they hear from others
- what they see in news about you (ads, articles, news stories, etc.)
- etc.

So are you just looking for a logo / slogan, or are you looking for a brand?

The word and/or practice of "branding" can be used synonimously with the words "identity", "persona", and "image".

A company is a living, breathing entity of it's own, and therefore has various characteristics that make up its identity...just like a human, a monkey, a bird, a spider, a fish, or even a flower. All of the above (including businesses) evoke an emotional reaction.

What do you feel when you think of a spider? Do you get the eeby-geebies? Does your skin scrawl? Do you view it as an enimy and want to kill it? Or are you overtaken with awe? Obviously, if the spider were a business, it would target the "awe" audience.

The same applies for your company. What do you want people to feel about your business? What emotions does your logo and slogan exude? Does it look and sound generic (i.e. "Screening Solutions".....in this case the word "solutions" is rather broad and generic. It raises the questions, "What kind of solutions? Solutions to what kind of screening?, etc.

Think of your branding as creating an identity, a personality, an image for your company. Just like people, a business has to possess unique characteristics, qualities, talents, etc that set it apart from all the others..making you recognizable in the minions.

The ultimate "holy grail" of branding a company desires to achieve is to have the brand name of their product become the name used to describe such a product. Huh? OK, think about Coke, Kleenex, Clorox, Einstien, Broadway, and Xerox. All of these brand names, people, and streets are used to identify a person, place, or thing (i.e. "Hand me Kleenex", "Would you like a Coke or something", "He's a regular Einstein", "I saw a Broadway play last night", etc). Almost every city in America has a Broadway, but there is only one "real" Broadway in NYC. There are several different brands of tissue, but most of us call them Kleenex". I think you get the point.

Now, most of the above holy grail examples apply to consumer products and may not apply to your screening, but you can thrive to become the standard. Think of the SAT, ACT, GED, MCAT, and so on. Strive to make your screening the most superb testing in the nation. Let's say you call it the HICUP (Health Industry Competency and Understanding Practicum - I'll license that to you for a small fee.) and start to have outstanding feedback from your clients. Word will spread and eventually, people (may) begin to say "Hey, maybe we should have our employees take a hiccup (HICUP) or something like that?", or while talking to your competitiors; "Do you guys give the HICUP? Oh, you don't...but it's kinda like it? Nevermind....Thank You" (your phone rings next)...that would be your grail.

Hopefully you can see the depth of creating more than just a logo and a catchy slogan. If you require any professional consultation (sometimes an outside party can provide a different perspective), we have one of the nation's best branding experts on board who would be more than happy to assist you. Just click on my name to get my contact info.

Thank you for your time and I wish you luck in your endeavors!

-- Jett Enterprises

The advice given by others is clearly right on.

If you need a starting point for the process, though, I would recommend developing a Positioning Statement that articulates the primary benefit of your service. Of course, you need to know who your audience is, what they want/need, how they think, what they value, etc. And you will probably want a support statement that tells your target audience WHY you believe you can deliver the beneift promise.

This is an overly simplistic explanation of the Positioning Statement. But a Positioning Statement is a prerequisite for a sound branding strategy, and without a strategy, your branding program will be wandering aimlessly and very unlikely to succeed.

And, when you have a Positioning Statement that accurately defines who you want to be, and why customers should purchase your service, you'll find that it provides valuable guidance and direction for the entire marketing mix.

With all that said, let me reiterate what others have said: A brand is a promise -- a promise that you'll deliver your benefit consistently. It's a lot more than a logo and a tagline or slogan. It's product, promotion, sales/distribution policy, customer service, and -- well everything about your company and service.

The Positioning Statement, while created for internal use, is likely to be a paraphrased version of a good tagline or slogan. It just comes before the creative process of stating it in consumer-friendly and memorable terms.

For more about creating a Positioning Statement, and the criteria for a good Positioning Statement, see the Appendix to Rasputin For Hire (www.rasputinforhire.com).