What's in a brand?

We see it everywhere, nationally, regionally, and locally. A brand is defined as a type of product manufactured by a company under a particular name. But brands are more than just a name, it is a staple, an image if you will, of your product or service offered to the public.

Organizational branding is a little more complex than my previous post about Personal Branding. How does the organization want to be perceived by the public? What's your message? Organizational branding extends far beyond just a logo and a slogan.

This made me think about my current challenge. Building a brand isn't as complicated as it may be but when there are standards that must be followed all the while trying to have an individual identity, this may pose as a bigger challenge than originally anticipated.

Let's take, for example, the automotive industry. A auto dealership has to follow the brand (product) standards that have been put into place by their national headquarters. Some of these standards are strict, right down to the font used on the website.

Being that this industry is highly competitive, how does one individual dealership differentiate themselves from the pack? The cluster, if you will, of all its local competitors. In this case, branding may be more challenging.

Branding is primarily about consistency, being able to relay one simple yet effective message throughout all your advertising and marketing channels. We all know those channels have increased with the explosion of social media. It is extremely important to keep it consistent. There's no trial period, and you can't afford a trial period either.

Once your message is out there, you start to make an impact in the public, don't change your message if you aren't noticing the traffic that you were anticipating. Branding takes time, patience, and determination. It will get attention but it will take time.

That said, make sure that the message you are sending CAN be distributed throughout all your channels of advertising; web, print, radio, television, and social media. Some may be easier to do than others, some evidently will be less expensive than others as well.

Have brainstorming sessions with other creative people in your organization, this will allow you to pick each other's brains to get the most effective message out to the public.

Once you have decided on your message, it's your Brand Manager's job to improve the value of your brand or product. If you don't have a brand manager, it's the marketing department's job. Or, in my case, it's my job to develop, plan, and implement marketing activities for our brand.

Establishing a brand, advertising, and marketing tactics are only successful if you have a good ROI (return on investment). Don't be afraid to spend the money, as long as you see your investment generate higher sales. Typically, the higher the sales, the more you can spend on your advertising.

In the end, does the old saying really ring true? 'If you build it, they will come'