Build Your Brand Development Muscles
You know what your company does, but does the average person? When you’re at a barbeque and someone asks what you do for work, what do you say? Can you describe it in a simple 60-second elevator pitch?
Maybe you have that covered, but do you know who your company is? That’s a meatier question, and one that is at the heart of strong, successful brand development.
Okay, you may know who your company is, but it may differ drastically from who your customers know you to be, or how your employees experience you. Yes, they matter. Employees, as we know, are any company’s most valuable resource. What they do, think, and say has a direct impact on their performance … and your brand positioning.
Consider this: if your brand messaging says you’ll deliver one type of experience and your employees are serving up quite another, you have a serious and potentially damaging disconnect, which will probably result in lots of lost time and trouble for everyone involved. If you are spending too much effort reconnecting dots and saving customer accounts, you’re probably also losing workplace efficiencies that will dilute your brand promise.
You may already have a brand that you feel is working—and that’s great! You might have an anemic one and realize that it’s time to rebrand. Cue the brand positioning statement. It sounds like a simple enough process: create a one- to two-line synopsis that describes your company, what you do and stand for, and who you do it for. But so much more goes into getting there. A rebranding strategy is integral to getting to the heart of what makes your company unique—what differentiates you from your competitors. Do you know what that differentiator is? Or how many there may be?
To begin to uncover your distinct B2B brand message and industry position, you need to answer some very basic questions. To get to the ultimate brand positioning statement that communicates your position among customers and competitors, the discovery process takes some digging.
A few simple steps to start:
1) Ask your customers who you are to them
2) Survey your employees; is there a universal voice from them about who you are as a company?
3) When your brand personality shines through, be sure to include—in all your touch-points—both the functional and emotional benefits of how and why you are a dependable brand
What’s the current state of your branding? Need some help figuring that out? Grant Marketing specializes in B2B brand messaging, brand positioning, and rebranding strategies. As a brand consultant, we help companies connect with their brand voice to position their brand stronger than ever.
We’ve created the Brand Report Card to help you uncover where your weaknesses may lie. Then get ready to flex them marketing muscles.
