This is part one of a series on branding.
It
is surprising how many people misunderstand the concept of branding. We
can all name brands, but many of us do not think about why we are able
to recollect certain brands over others. Why is Nike more
likely than
Mizuno to pop into your head when thinking of sportswear? Think music
players and the iPod would probably come out top of your list. The
reason is not simply that they have great products or they are big
companies – their branding strategy has placed them at the forefront of
your attention.
That being said, when an individual or company
approaches me to carry out branding work, they occasionally do not have
a clear idea about what their product or service is or what it
represents. Here are ten questions I get potential clients to ask
themselves before we begin the branding process. Try it for yourself
and, for all of them, try to be as honest and objective as possible.
1) What exactly are your products and/or services? What qualities do they have?
2) What are the core values of your products/services? What are your core values?
3) What is the mission of your company? What do you want to achieve? Is it realistic? (It’s great to have dreams, but a little pragmatism pays, especially when you are just starting out.)
4) What is your specialty? If you have more than one, are they compatible? (For example, people may question why you run a funeral parlour/entertainment agency…)
5) Who is your target market/audience? Why? Do your products and services attract the people you are targeting?
6) Where is your target market?
7) What do you want people to think about your product/service? What do they currently think?
8) Do you have any competitors? Who are they? How are you different?
9) What is your tagline/the tagline of your company? What message does your tagline send to your prospective customers? Does your tagline match your company? Do the same thing for your logo. (A good exercise here is to think of taglines and logos that you like for one reason or another and then consider why they work – why they stick in your head, why you like them and if/how how they match the product/service they promote.)
10) Are you targeting business or consumer sectors?
Comments