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What is the corporate brand?
Everywhere you look these days you see something about developing your brand. Many of my fellow design agencies specialize in branding and brand management. As a business owner, you know you need to pay attention to your brand. You know it’s important. But in all the talk, have you figured out what it really is?
Your brand is your most important corporate asset. A strong brand builds confidence and trust with your customers and distinguishes you from other organizations serving your client base. It is important for any company, but especially important if you are competing against large, well established companies that have invested in building their brand over time. You need to show your customers that you can compete on the same playing field, and the brand promise is one way to do it.
Here is my short definition of a corporate brand: Your brand is your reputation. But what, exactly, does that mean?
Your brand is the combination of your positioning and mission statements. It is the promise you make to your customers about the products and services you provide and how you are going to handle your customer relationships. The advertising firm Ogilvy Mather provides a great definition: A brand is a promise made consistently over time.
Everything you do and say as an organization supports your brand promise, from how quickly you respond to new requests to how you handle conflict. It is how you talk to your customers, how you present yourself in the market, and how you interact with each individual within your company.
The brand includes intangible elements such as how you speak to your clients and how you talk about your services. It also includes tangible elements, including your logo and marketing materials. These tangible elements are called the visual identity, and they are the easiest way for your clients to easily recognize your brand. See a swoosh or some golden arches and you automatically think of Nike and McDonald's. Those symbols mean something to you, and those organizations have invested heavily to make sure it means something positive.
Consistent visual messages form a positive and distinct image of your company in the mind of your audience. Therefore, maintaining a consistent use of your visual identity is critical to building your brand promise. Your logo is the most prominent feature of your visual identity, and the place to start when building your brand. Follow these steps, and your visual identity will reflect your brand promise.
1. Develop a corporate logo that reflects your company’s mission and goals.
Your logo is the visual mark of your company. I cannot understate the importance of working with an experienced logo designer when developing your mark. You will use your logo for everything you produce— web sites, letterhead, billboards. It must work in each environment.
2. Use the Logo Consistently
Since your logo is the primary visual identifier of your brand in every communication, whether print or electronic, it is imperative that you use it consistently throughout all media. How you do this will depend on your particular mark. Have your logo designer develop a standards and usage guide, which gives you the “rules” of how to use your logo. If you do nothing else toward using the logo consistently, follow this advice: never, under any circumstances, alter the logo. Do not use a small portion of it, change the colors, stretch it out, or use it as wall paper or other graphic element. Altering your logo in any way dilutes your brand and diminishes the value of your mark. Don’t do it.
The logo, of course, is just one part of your overall brand. But it’s an important start in communicating with your customers, partners, and other stakeholders about what you offer. Develop one that reflects who you want to be and can hold it’s own next to your big competitors, and you’ll be on the right path toward building a strong corporate brand.
Susan Rose is president of Two Sisters Creative http://www.twosisterscreative.com/