DOES YOUR BRAND STAND OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE?

Does your brand stand out in the crowded marketplace? Does your brand message stand out from the myriad of messages that clutter consumers’ minds each day? In order to ensure your brand is noticed and remembered amidst the clutter, you have to be certain that it stands for something specific. In other words, it needs to offer a unique value proposition.

What makes your brand unique and what makes it distinctly different from other brands available to consumers? What makes your message more important than all the other messages customers hear?

Your brand’s unique value proposition is what gives your brand strength. Consider the brands below and think of what each brand stands for in your mind:

• Kia

• Mercedes

• Volvo

Each brand above has a unique position in the marketplace and stands for something very specific. Kia represents the inexpensive car. Mercedes is the elite, high-class brand, and Volvo is the safe choice. Each brand’s strength comes from “owning” its unique value proposition in the minds of consumers.

Many brands have success extending beyond the unique value proposition that originally gave them strength and power in the marketplace, but typically, those successes occur only when brand extensions enhance the original value proposition rather than running counter to it.

Where is your brand positioned? What is your brand’s unique value proposition? Make your brand distinct or you run the risk of standing for nothing and getting lost in the clutter.

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THE BASICS OF GOOD BRANDING

The most important thing a professional brand should do is to create an instantly recognisable graphic or type treatment for your company. Hopefully this treatment arouses a sense of trust, respect, loyalty and an overall feeling in your audience that your brand and products or services are superior to your competitors.

A good brand should be unique, practical and simple. Your brand should express your company’s intended message, concept or “meaning”. There are practical things most brands should do, for example; your logo should be as effective when displayed on a simple business card or a twenty foot poster. The best brands work well in colour but equally as effective in black and white.

Making your brand unique and professional is what is important, a poor quality brand can be negative to the image of your company and may do more damage to your business than you might care to think!

Above all else, remember one thing - First impressions last!

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