Successful branding means that customers opinion of you, is what you want it to be.
In truth it's easier for very small businesses to do branding right than larger ones.
Imagine a man called Terry. Terry is a market stall holder, the type of person that might be selling "2 pairs for a pound".
Terry's brand is himself, his charisma, the way he talks and interacts. His cardboard signs with the price written on in black marker pen, serves to illustrate that he's down to earth, nothing fancy, just an honest bloke, doing things nice and simple.
When a business is just yourself, often the brand is simply you being you. But when there's multiple people involved then it starts to get complicated.
A good corporate philosophy, is not always part of your brand, and your brand is not always a philosophy. But the two often do go hand in hand. Having your team buy into the idea of your brand is essential. Do not assume that they just understand it and get it. Communicate to them what the brand is and how that should influence the work they do.
Most sales people have their own individual brand, the chrisma and charm that they rely on to get a sale. It's important from a branding perspective, that an individual brand, does not conflict with the larger brand of the company or product.
Individual sales people can have their own different versions of the brand. If an individual has a brand and it's already successful in terms of helping you achieve your goals as a business. Then try to incorporate that in to your branding and make use of it.
It sounds obivous, but it is so often ridiculously ignored. If part of your brand, is that you want people to think of you as helpful and there for them. And then a customer meets someone representing you who doesn't come across as helpful. Then their opinion of your brand will of course be that you're not helpful.
Yeah we appreciate how obvious this stuff is, but whether it's the tone of voice of someone answering the phone, or a lack of a human touch in an automated social media posts. The key to good branding is identifying the ways that consumers, interact with you. If you look across every part of your business, be it social media, website, who answers the phone, the person on reception, your advert in the newspaper etc. If you really look at it, you will almost certainly find something, where a small change could help to enhance your brand, rather than detract from it.
