It is if you own a business. Nike, Coca Cola, Starbucks, Mc Donald’s, Target, Ford, all have a particular image and have built a lasting Brand. So much so that just saying their tag line (i.e. Just Do It!, Expect More, Payless, Built Ford Tough etc.) you instantly know what product or company it is. Even their logos are instantly recognizable. A brand is what a business builds itself around and it’s what they stand for.
All businesses work very hard to build a reputation around their logo and brand. They create a nice neat little package that IS their business. From the logo, to their website, to the stores a customer should see the same, or common theme throughout it all. No matter what the size of the business, every business wants their brand to have immediate recognition amongst the public.
All this can just as easily backfire on you too. Look at what is going on with Wells Fargo. They have spent over 150 years building a brand, but it took one news report to send that image crumbling. One can argue that it has been happening over the past many years, but just now coming to light. Either way, it took a nano second to tarnish the image it has spent over a century building. Will the Wells Fargo Brand ever get its luster back? Only time will tell. And how much time is anyone’s guess.
So how does this pertain to me you ask? I’m just a small fish in a big ocean. Well, no matter if you are a local business in any town USA, or Starbucks, business owners want to build your brand. As an owner you want to build it in a way that it will stick with your customers and public so they will keep coming back and better yet recommend customers to you. Business owners want to create an overall good experience for their customers. Right?
Take Starbucks for instance. We all can make coffee at home, go to McDonald’s or any restaurant for considerably cheaper. BUT, Starbucks has created an experience. If you go into any Starbucks across this country you see people working, doing interviews, meeting with friends, etc. All stuff that can be done anywhere. Disney creates an experience at all its theme parks. When you are there you truly feel you are in a fantasyland. Is that not what a business owner wants with their brand? Maybe not on Disney’s level, but to a certain degree.
Whether you want to make your business good at customer service and a cohesive brand, or a service industry where the brand is incorporated into a whole experience, make sure you create the mood, look and feel from your business cards, to your website to your store/office and you will be much more successful.
Businesses that don’t have an identity, theme, good service, etc don’t make it. So…What is your businesses brand and how are you going to keep it shining amongst the best?
Geoff Cummings is President | Founder of On the Level Marketing & Consulting, LLC. Successfully helping businesses with all their marketing needs by branding their businesses and keeping their marketing simple and straightforward.
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