Branding is one of the most important aspects when it comes to businesses standing out against competitors. When getting your company started, you should ask yourself - what is my ultimate goal? From here, it’s time to go back to the basics and set up the foundation of your company through key branding strategies. This is where you show your audience your brand's overall purpose, values, vision and personality so they can better understand why they should invest their time and money in you.
What is your Brand’s Purpose?
A powerful purpose can make your brand stand out from the crowd. It gives your consumers a clear way to remember you, creates an identity for your business and shows your consumer how they can benefit from using your services/products. An example of a company with a good brand purpose is Amazon.
Amazon’s Brand Purpose states that they aim “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Amazon not only develops products that are valuable for their customers, they also seek to provide the best possible shopping experience from both their price offerings and delivery method. Priding themselves as being one of the biggest E-Commerce companies in the world, Amazon has an inventory of over 12 million products across all categories. This has continued to give Amazon’s consumers an experience that is diversified, broad and efficient.
What are your Brand’s Values?
Determining your brand’s overall core values will show your audience what your business stands for and how your company operates. By making these values action based, it will allow you to gain trust and loyalty from your consumers as well as deliver a consistent branding experience every time. An example of a company with good Brand Values is Apple.
Apple’s 6 Core Values are :
Accessibility - Ensure people with physical limitations are not left out.
Education - Provide educational solutions to schools across the United States.
Environment - Build products that are safe for both the users and the environment.
Inclusion & Diversity - To create products that serve and include everyone.
Supplier Responsibility - Hold suppliers and partners responsible for creating quality products for our users.
Privacy - Offer the utmost security for the user. Privacy is a fundamental human right.
If you are someone who owns any Apple product or has skimmed through their website, you will notice how important and highlighted these core values are. Today, Apple stands as the world’s most valuable company because they guide their business values both internally, through their staff/employees and externally, through their consumers/audience. Your brand's values will help resonate and reach a wider audience of people who stand by those similar values.
What is your Brand’s Vision?
Navigating towards the right direction is the ultimate goal when it comes to your brand's vision. This is where you describe the future that your company is ultimately working towards. Your vision is supposed to be big and long-term, but also achievable at the same time. If you ultimately have a clear vision of where your brand is headed, then you can make meaningful decisions along the way and guide your brand forward. An example of a company with a good Brand Vision is Disney.
Disney’s Vision Statement is “to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.” While Disney was established in 1923 in the United States, it now has a presence in over 30 countries, making it a global leader in entertainment and information. Owning a variety of media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media, Disney’s overall vision helped them make strategic decisions to keep pushing their brand forward.
What is your Brand's Personality?
Your Brand’s Personality is exactly what it sounds like, humanizing a brand to give it depth and making it relatable to your audience. Not only will this help with building lasting relationships, it will help you to connect with your audience on an emotional level. An example of a company with a good Brand Personality is Nike.
When thinking of Nike’s personality, it could be described as active, strong, confident, innovative and dynamic. For many years, Nike has been a huge endorsement of athletes across a variety of sports, making it the largest shoe brand in the United States. Their brand slogan, “Just Do It” shows an ambitious and proactive tone to their audience by encouraging them to put their mind to whatever dream they believe in. Their immense personality continues to gain great customer trust and loyalty as well as making them stand out against their competitors.
Now that you have a good idea of how to set your brand up for success, it's time to implement these strategies into your branding. It’s time to show your audience what you bring to the table and why your company is the right one for the job. Once people dive a little deeper and understand what your brand is all about, the rest of it will fall into place!
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