14 items found for ""
- Branding Strategies 101
How do you choose the right branding strategy? Go through the exercise of researching what makes your market click, and why anyone should choose your product over another. Although it might be an intangible aspect, branding is basically what convinces people to buy your products or services. What is a Branding Strategy? A brand is not just a logo or a name, it represents your business identity. It is a crucial part of the startup process for any business. Branding strategies provide a fundamental framework and recognize the valuable tools that help create a strong, lasting brand. In general terms, a strong brand is one that people recognize and believe. Have you ever found yourself at Target choosing one product over the other because it is the more recognized or trusted brand? How can you make people trust your brand and its reputation? What should you do to communicate the mission of your company? What is the message you are trying to send to produce loyal customers? A sound branding strategy will aim to find answers to these questions. What's in a Name, Logo, or Website Coming up with a name for your business goes hand in hand with creating a logo. When it comes to logos, do your research. Always opt for a unique, memorable design that appeals to your target audience. Also, make certain your logo is usable in a variety of situations and orientations...without losing the essence of its look and feel. When choosing a website name, shorter is better. Think about the number of times you may have to write your email or web address, or think about when a customer has to type in your URL. Think about how your URL looks on your business card, promotional items, or email signature. Shorter website names are easier to work with, just make sure the name aligns with your brand. Colors and Images Your branding strategy should include choosing the right color palette. As with logos, colors and images can be used to establish the identity of your business. Colors depict a corresponding set of emotions and feelings. Carefully choose colors based on your brand's personality and audience. Who are you trying to appeal to? What are you trying to convey? Perform research before finally selecting your colors to ensure you have addressed all possible concerns or issues. For example, is a competitor using similar colors? Unique Proposition When communicating your company brand into the market, develop key messages that highlight your uniqueness, and enforce your brand promise. What make you different than the other options in your market? How will you deliver on that proposition? If you can deliver your solutions in a way that is unmatched by the competition, this gives you a competitive edge. Think Uber against a traditional cab service, or Amazon against your local retail store. Uber provides transportation just as a traditional cab service, but the way the service is delivered is more convenient, faster, and an overall better better experience. Look for uniqueness in your service delivery or product offerings. What can you do to improve the customer experience? When you find the answer, use it to lead your brand strategy and messaging. #branding #logo
- Are Slogans Dead?
If you can think of one slogan right now, it means slogans are very much alive! From "Just Do It" to "Have it Your Way," these few words wield significant power when it comes to making your company's brand memorable. What is a Slogan? A tagline or slogan is a phrase summarizing your company's value proposition. A few catchy words in a world of 3-second attention spans can work wonders for your brand. To make your slogan successful, it should be actionable and delivered through your brand promise. Creating a slogan is often overlooked as a critical element for effective branding. More time is invested in the creation of the logo than coming up with a memorable tagline that sums up— in four words or less—what value your brand brings to the world. Even simple words or phrases can go a long way when it works well with your brand. Impact on Branding Brand recall is the main purpose of creating a slogan. They are there to speak for the brand where images fail. This further enables the brand to create a lasting memory in the minds of your audience and enhances the market reach of the product. Balancing creativity and strategy isn't always easy but a smart slogan will capture the consumer's attention and generate interest. The core purpose is to enable your audience to stop and think about the possibilities offered by the brand. Depending on your marketing plan, you can use a slogan to appeal to the needs, attitudes, or emotions of your audience. How to Create a Good Slogan Due to the importance of the slogan in your business, it is best to assert careful planning into the process of creating a slogan. To create a good slogan, inform yourself of the qualities of a good slogan. A good slogan is memorable. Since the purpose of a slogan is to increase brand recall and trigger buyer motivations, it must capture their attention and stay in their memory for a given period. Staying power is an essential factor in the business industry. An effective slogan stays in the minds of customers as they shop for solutions or products. A good slogan produces images in customer's mind. You can trigger a visual imagery or positive associations by using a slogan. For instance, you can remind them about your company logo and create a stronger link between the two. A good slogan drives people into action. Awakening triggers often move customers to make the decision to buy. Choose words that conjure satisfying a need. A good slogan highlights the benefit of the product. This is tied up with the efforts of creating product distinction, which is to emphasize the benefits that one can derive from using a company's products or services. Advertising vs a Slogan We'll leave you with one last tip. Know the difference between advertising and using a slogan...since they serve different purposes. A slogan is used consistently, repetitively, and is used to reinforce your brand message. While advertising sticks to the brand, it can also be modified to fit different platforms and appeal to different audiences. #branding #strategy