BrandingThe Importance of Consistent Branding

Karly BakerWebsite Coordinator

Branding is your promise.

An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasing competitive markets.

Brand Strategy

• Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages.

• Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity.

• Which means the added value brought to your company's products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command.

Know what they think.

• Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the following questions:

• What is your company's mission?

• What are the benefits and features of your products or services?

• What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?

• What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

• Don't rely on what you think they think. Know what they think.

Get the word out!

• Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a few simple, time-tested tips:

• Get a great logo.

• Write down your brand

messaging.

• Integrate your brand.

• Create a "voice" for your company

that reflects your brand.

• Develop a tagline.

• Design templates and create

brand standards for your

marketing materials.

• Be true to your brand.

• Be consistent.

Who am I?

How to Create a Logo

• With a well-designed logo, potential clients can instantly discover how your business can serve them.

• Ideally, your company logo enhances potential customers and partners' crucial first impression of your business.

• A good logo can build loyalty between your business and your customers, establish a brand identity, and provide the professional look of an established enterprise.

3 Logo Types

• Font-based logos consist primarily of a type treatment.

• Logos that literally illustrate what the company does.

• Abstract graphic symbols

“A symbol is meaningless until your company can communicate to consumers what its underlying associations are.”

- Americus Reed II, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School

Getting Started

• Look at the logos of other businesses in your industry.

• Focus on your message.

• Make it clean and functional.

• Your business name will affect your logo design.

• Use your logo to illustrate your business's key benefit.

• Don't use clip art.

• Avoid trendy looks.

Let Designers Design

While brainstorming logo ideas by yourself is a crucial step in creating your business image, trying

to create a logo completely on your own is a mistake.

Consistency is Key

In today’s marketplace, there are more platforms to convey your brand message than ever before –

making it even more difficult to remain consistent.

Only Time will Tell

• Successful branding is achieved over time, not overnight, and consistency is the key.

• Once you establish a persuasive, simple message, you must stick with it and continue to deliver that message time and time again.

• How do you want others to perceive you?

Brands We Love

Think about some of the most recognizable brands that have exceptional consistency, such as Coca-Cola, Nike and Ford. These brands have endured many ups and downs and still have the ability to evoke distinct emotion. They have gained the trust of consumers by providing them with clear consistent messaging for a great number of years.

Marketing Q&A

• Is it ever too early to start marketing?

• What's the biggest marketing mistake a new brand can make?

• Digital Marketing. Are brands that don't market online doomed to fail?

• Is there a difference in the strategies a brand employs when marketing online and when marketing offline?

To Recap

• Branding is your promise

• Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity

• Know what they think

• Focus on your message

• Research your competition

• Hire a designer

• Create a Logo

• Be proud and market your agency!

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Karly BakerWebsite Coordinator