A brand means many things. It can be a name you recognize instantly or the way your customers feel about you. It can be a stunning design and a message about who you are at your core. With so much invested in your business and brand, it’s extremely important to protect both.
Simple things like a great logo and consistency in the use, appearance, color and tone of your marketing materials make a big difference in breaking through the clutter of the competition. Your brand should not only be recognized, it should be repeated, respected and give your clients a true sense of how you do your business and who you are. But it’s much more than that.
Any time a company gets lazy or careless in how it represents itself, even in the smallest details of a letterhead, brochure or email signature, it sends a subtle and wrong message to your customers. It says details aren’t important. This isn’t always intentional. Often a well-intentioned employee sends an off-the-cuff email to drum up new business without considering branding.
What’s even worse is a lack of a defined brand, which allows the consumer to tell the world who you are, leaving your fate – and your future – on autopilot.
An airline once proudly boasted they’re not in the business of branding. They saw themselves as a commodity and believed price trumps any brand. Then one day they narrowly avoided what could have been a terrible pilot-error accident and found themselves on the wrong side of the news. Suddenly their name and identity meant everything. Does your brand convey trust and your core values? Will it evoke enough of a positive feeling in your customers and build loyalty to get you through the difficult times?
Every company should have a good internal gatekeeper or marketing lead to make sure only the right messages reach your customers. At HenkinSchultz we help our clients through strategy sessions to identify your brand’s voice and build standards, templates and identity packages that are your identity. And then we help you protect it.
HenkinSchultz. We’ll help you discover your brand story, and tell it consistently and with impact.
