Branding: The First Thing on a New Company’s To-Do List
One of the first things a new company has to do is establish its brand. In this blog, we’ll explain why you need to do this before you can think about marketing to your target audience.
Consider the relationship between your brand and your customer
Most businesses have a provider/consumer brand relationship. In recent years, businesses have redefined the relationship they have with customers.
According to this Harvard Business Review article, a great opportunity today is to redefine the standard brand relationship in your industry:
“Marketers have an opportunity to redefine brand roles in every industry. Media has been defined by broadcaster/viewer for decades. Health care has been defined by doctor/patient. Education has been defined by teacher/student. In each of these industries, there is an opportunity to create a new relationship based on co-creation and collaboration.”
One example is how AMC Theatres switched from a provider/consumer to a host/guest brand relationship.
But customers have to know what your brand is
The opportunity to redefine the brand relationship in your industry is certainly there, but customers need to know what your brand is first. They need an idea of its values and personalities. When they know who you are, what you want to do, and how you plan on doing it, then they’ll be ready to form a relationship with your brand.
How you can get started
There are a couple of standard tools you’ll need to establish your brand. In this respect, it never hurts to find inspiration in the brands you know. Coca-Cola, for example, has one of the world’s most recognizable logos. Subway has a memorable slogan. Tesla has a clear and defined brand mission.
In addition, you’ll need business cards to share with local customers and businesses as well as a website to attract new leads. Once the latter is in place, you can start looking to social media and email to really expand your strategy.
To talk more about branding, or anything else, contact us today.
