5 Practical Brand Standards You Can Live By

Constructing your brand is liken to making a cake. Like baking you carefully mix together ingredients  to form a cake, your brand is born out of combining several core elements (your story or message) that can be consumed by your audience. 

Products such as Nike and Coke are 2 brands that famously resonate with a wide target market. Of course their logo, merchandising and product placement are keen elements among these house whole  brands. It is important to note that, their long term success was born out of well-placed visual elements, displaying customer interactions as well as the type of information that is shared through their marketing channels one among them  is social media.  When these essential  parts are measured into the brand mix just so, the brand grows and trust and credibility is established. 

 

Brand building is simply claiming head-space in the minds of your targeted audience, artist brands from Alice Smith (Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and producer) or Paul Andrew (a women’s shoe designer and the 2014 Fashion Fund winner) uniquely defined who they are as artist in the market place.  

 

                                                                          

Two very different mediums, however they both have an identical brand mix, by respectively established their brands -- differentiating and positioning themselves from their competition thus claiming their place in the fashion / musical landscapes.

Five Brand Standards:

1. Provide the very best Product/Service. Word of mouth is often a small businesses greatest lead generator, so having great story or message that people talk about is a critical part of developing your brand.  It’s important that you stay focused of your brand – keep refining it, with new offerings or advancements, and making sure to put the brand out in front.
2. Standing out means being different. If your brand is going to be strong, you need to be able to pinpoint what it is that makes what you do unique. What differentiates you from others in your industry?
3. Formulate a  Distinct Voice. The most effective way to deliver your brand story/message is to be consistent in how you both communicate and interact with your target audience influences, end users, fans – on Facebook and Twitter.  
4. Design a Value Proposition. A successful value prop, aids in two important ways; defines your brand plus distinguishes you from the competition thereby establishing your niche in the market.  
5. What’s in a Name/Logo.It is paramount that you get your name and/or logo right the first time, because this is how your brand is recognized. Your name/logo should appeal to your core audience, it should be recognizable plus it should reflect both the nature and tone of your story and messaging/taglines.