A strong brand identity can differentiate you from your competitors and help you stand out in the minds of consumers. Therefore it’s vital that you develop a robust brand when your start your business. Turner Little lists five brand issues you should take into consideration.
Define your USP
Start by defining your company’s unique selling point (USP). What makes it different to the other businesses that target the same consumer groups as you? Figure out why these customers would choose your firm and build your brand around this USP to make it distinctive.
There are three areas that could define your USP. First, do you provide consumers with a one-of-a-kind service they won’t find anywhere else? Second, customers love a bargain, so if you’ve found a more cost-effective way to deliver quality service, why not construct your brand around the concept of ‘value for money?’ Third, think about what benefits you provide customers that other companies don’t e.g. “we deliver food faster than anyone else,” and use this to develop an appealing brand identity for your business.
Look at your competition
Don’t think of your competition as a threat, think of them as an inspiration. We’d suggest that you research competing business’ brands, as you can’t develop a distinctive brand identity of your own without knowing how you need to differentiate it from others.
Here are the three areas of your competitors’ brands you should look at. First, image: do they all use a certain colour scheme or type of image? If so, associate your brand with contrasting images and colour schemes to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Second, tone of voice; how do they speak to consumers? Striking a unique tone of voice when communicating with consumers can help them distinguish your brand more easily.
Third, values: what are your competitors’ best qualities? Are they ‘efficient,’ ‘reliable,’ ‘flexible?’ Determine your best qualities and use them create a strong strapline for your brand (see creating a slogan below) that customers would be more likely to remember.
Consider your customer service
Before you start your business it’s vital that you think about how to use customer service to build a trusted brand. Focus on developing processes to respond to your target customers’ needs, so they identify your brand with first rate service. Many consumers contact businesses online these days, so you might want to think about how you can use social media channels to build your brand’s reputation for delivering efficient customer service.
Statistics quoted by Oneserve, a smart software service provider, show the importance of customer service. More than two thirds (66%) of global consumers switched service providers in 2013 due to poor customer service. Meanwhile by 2020, ‘customer experience’ will overtake ‘price’ and ‘product’ as the key differentiator of a brand’s identity.
Create a slogan
Adidas had ‘impossible is nothing.’ IBM did it with one word, ‘think.’ Google had the socially aware mantra ‘don’t be evil.’ We’d strongly suggest you develop a catchy slogan for your business; this can communicate your company’s core values to consumers, allowing you to stand out from competitors.
Here it’s vital to think about wording. Which words and phrases best sum up your company? Which words and phrases are your target audience most likely to respond to? Test certain words and phrases out through focus groups and online questionnaires. This customer feedback will show you which words and phrases appeal to your target audience; this will allow you to develop a strong slogan that’ll help communicate your brand’s core values to potential consumers.
Think about your logo
A picture’s worth a thousand words, so you may want to think about creating a logo for your firm’s brand. Again, use customer feedback to develop a logo that communicates your brand’s core values effectively to consumers. Most businesses’ logos improve and evolve over time, so don’t focus too much on developing the perfect logo right away.
For some businesses, it’s essential to legally protect any intellectual property – the designs, symbols, inventions, literary works etc. uniquely associated with the brand. If you’d like to find out more about how to protect your brand contact Turner Little or read more about our trademark services.
Turner Little
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agents, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust providers.