A brand is only as strong as the thinking and conscious decisions behind it.
Once you know who your target audience is, have identified what you do differently and better than everyone else competing in your target market, and have worked out the features, benefits and attributes of your products and services and the unique value proposition for each of your offers, you are ready to move on to the fun stuff — creating your brand. This is the essential foundation that supports your business for life.
There are 7 elements that work together to create a successful brand.
1) Brand Name – your master brand or product family name
This is the name you want to be known by and build a reputation for.
2) Brand Positioning Statement – who you are, what you do, who you are doing it for, why it matters
This is how your market is attracted to what you offer.
3) Tagline – the promise you deliver in a nutshell
This is the summary of the greatest value or benefit your customers experience when they buy from you – the why you’re different / better than the competition.
4) Brand Identity – the values you are perceived to project / deliver communicated through your iconography
This is the name, image and visual appearance of the brand that becomes how your customers recognize you.
5) Brand Personality – the human traits communicated by your “look and feel” in your packaging and graphics
This is how you appeal to your customers emotionally and speak to them sub-consciously.
6) Brand Signature – your colour palette, font, design specifications
This is how you ensure you present yourself consistently and professionally in all forms and media.
7) Brand Messaging – the expression of your unique value proposition
This is how you communicate your brand’s positioning throughout all the various marketing channels. The key to your success is to be clear, consistent and compelling – you want to tell a story that is easily understood in all places used, e.g., advertising, sales promotion, marketing collateral, naming, tagline(s), packaging, web sites, blogs, business cards, voicemail messages, signature lines etc.
Critical Success Factors Checklist
| Brand Name |
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| Brand Positioning Statement | Answers the question: Who am I selling to and why will they choose to buy what I’m offering? |
| Tagline | Explains what you promise to deliver and presents potential customers with the “reason why” they should buy from you in a creative and distinctive way.Taglines have a shelf life of 2-5 years and change as your positioning evolves.The absence of a tagline, or the ineffective use of one, puts your brand at a competitive disadvantage. |
| Brand Identity | Your visual identity (logo including colour, fonts, symbols by which your brand is recognized) needs to be distinctive, memorable, appealing, fresh, and consistent with your brand values and message. |
| Brand Personality | Builds emotional connections with your target customer by presenting them with a “look and feel” they can relate to as an extension of themselves (or the person they want to become). |
| Brand Signature | Your “look and feel” must be consistently presented in all forms so you are seen as credible, professional and trustworthy. This stimulates customer confidence in buying from you. |
| Brand Messaging | Build trust with your customers by consistently telling them one common story in a clear, concise and compelling way regardless of how they are hearing, seeing or experiencing the story. |