26 April 2010 by Sophie
Mark Artus is the CEO of one of Europe's leading
branding agencies, 1 HQ, that counts Unilever, Nestle and Marks
& Spencer among its clients. You can ask him questions live and
read more advice from him in our branding
surgery this Friday at 12pm.
It doesn't matter what size your business is, the principles of
brand development remain the same. Big or small, a brand is a
brand. You have to go through the exact same processes to make sure
that the brand you're creating has a unique proposition - and that,
hopefully, it's a better idea than anyone else's. Whether you are
IBM, Virgin or average Joe, the process is all the same.
Put very simply: know who you are, know where you're going and
know where you want to be. You need to have an ability to recognise
a seminal moment - and it helps to be a little insurgent.
Brands are complex. They should reflect both your personality and
your tone-of-voice.
It's easy to forget that we human beings are brands too. Whether
you're a person or a business, the image that you project is a
brand image for all to see, so it's important to get it right.
Every action or comment counts - positively or negatively. The way
we act, the way we behave, what we do, what we say, how we want
people to think about us - that's a brand. If you're a small
businesses thinking in these terms, you're going to do better at
the end of the day.
Small or large, you are still a brand. You have to make sure you
go through a full process and know that your brand is more than a
logo.
You need to find the best way to communicate; know your customer;
do what you say; take a distinctive stance; expand your customer
knowledge; remember emotions; not abandon your founding principles;
maintain focus; and finally, create trust. (There are no shortcuts
in brand building.)
But this is only the beginning. The next challenge is perhaps the
hardest: how do you instill your brand DNA and inspire your team,
and turn them into believers? And then do the same for the people
that you hope will use your product?
Within any business, you need to instill your brand philosophy and
beliefs into your staff. That's often the biggest problem
businesses face. Whether you are a team of one or 100, you all need
to be working toward the same goal - you need to feel part of
something. Get this right, and an advocate of one can soon become a
following of thousands over night.
In today's climate branding is a tricky business, but creating
trust both internally and externally will drive success.
Lastly, too much time is spent coming up with answers, and not
enough ensuring we've asked the right question in the first place.
Success comes in many different guises, and many a good idea has
fallen foul of poor financial planning, or just simply been in the
wrong place at the wrong time. The brand building process, if done
correctly, will ensure that the right steps are taken, but will
never compensate for a bad idea or poor timing. So before you
start, count to five and focus on the one hard question your brand
or new idea is facing this year.
Get more advice from Mark in our live branding surgery this
Friday at 12pm (click the link to set a reminder and find out
more).
Visit www.1hq.co.uk