The Branding Process Pt. 2: 7 Steps to Brand Development

The Branding Process is a Full Circle

It should begin and end in research (work). Here are the steps to follow to develop a brand and then manage the organization to support the brand.

• Step 1: Internal Research – How do we as owners, employees, suppliers, partners, and distributors see the company currently? Where do we really want it to be?
• Step 2: External Research – How do your clients and prospect see the company? What do they really want it to be?
• Step 3: The Audit – How are we doing both internally and externally at supporting and reinforcing the brand?
• Step 4: The Budget – How much do we need to spend and how do we spend it wisely? Many of the brand touch points can be directly affected without large capital expenditures. Think wisely.
• Step 5: Plan for Success – What is our positioning (Unique Selling Proposition), the logo, graphic standard, messaging, taglines, sales pitch, and marketing material. What are all the things we need to be successful?
• Step 6: Getting Started – Go through your audit and your communication process and develop the success plan based on touch points. Assign every touch point to a leader with specific goals in mind. Everything is up for review – voice mail, e-mail, web, communications, new client packages. Everything that is touched by an employee, board member, vendors, associates, or affi liates needs to be gathered, reviewed, audited and brought into “Brand Compliance”.
• Step 7: Manage – Make “Brand Compliance” the cornerstone of your marketing and communication system. Who is the brand manager? Who audits? How do you measure if the plan working?

Plan + Discipline = Branding Success

Unique Idea / Attribute / Selling Point

Your uniqueness should be a short (usually 7 words or less) statement about why I should care about your product and services. It is usually started by a verb – an action word leading to the noun of the destination. Whatever you develop, be sure to answer the question “Why do I care?”

The 5 types of slogans are:

1. Structure – “Outsourcing the Marketing Discipline for Success”
2. Challenge – “We are looking for a few good men”
3. Question – “Would you like a 300% return on investment?”
4. Feature – “The Best CPE credits – For Free”
5. Benefi t – “The Best CPE credits – For Free”

Now add punch to make it memorable.

1. Metaphorical, playful or humorous.
2. Vivid or fresh words.
3. Be boastful/big picture.
4. Make it exciting/desired.
5. Bring hope or take away pain.

When evaluating your uniqueness, use these rules to gauge your success.

1. What do you want them to do?
2. What do we want people to remember about us?
3. What will be the benefit?

The branding process is a complex one, and there’s more to be explored. Next we’ll go over how Employees are a Key Factor to your brand’s success.