NO!!! DONT GO THERE YET — THE BRANDING AGENCY
I know I spoke earlier about why you should care about branding. But before you run to the closest branding agency or freelancer, you need to pause and answer these questions on your own.
Remember I said we cannot allow people to see or hear the wrong message. Imagine trying to say quality but the message your brand is passing across is mediocre, average etc.
Branding is more than just logos, fonts and pasting your favourite colours across everything that has your business name on it. And I will love to tell you that this whole process is also about you but the truth is, you are the last person we are going to consider in this process…sorry, I know it is your business. It is about your target market.
These questions will help you on this branding journey.
Who am I
No not you, the business. What is your business? What is it about? What does your business want to achieve? What problem is your product or service solving?
Now, this may take a little time, don’t be in a hurry, take your time, Because if you can’t explain this to yourself, you won’t be able to explain it to someone else.
In Piggy Vest(an online savings platform) words
“ PiggyVest helps you achieve financial freedom by enabling you to save
responsibly and invest on the go.”
In these few words, you can already see what they are about. Now don’t try to write just two lines, write as much as you can, we can think about the summary latter.
What do I stand for?
What is that one thing you cannot give up in your business even if you were given a billion dollar…Ah, money, money, money- the weakness of most men. But really you have to think long and hard about this one. Is it quality, or integrity, or great customer service. Think hard, don’t be in a hurry.
What do I want my clients to see?
When customers can connect to your brand, it is easier to get them to come back again. What do you want them to see when they first come in contact with your brand? Why should they come to you? Why should they patronize you?
Do you know Starbucks? The company that sells coffee. In their own words, this is what they want their customers to see and feel.
“A place for conversation and a sense of community. A third place
between work and home”
And you can see this consistency in message in everything that they do. From the way their stores are built down right to the type of furniture, they pick for their stores, to their advertising, to their campaigns, to the messages on their cups even down to the employees they hire. (Now you see why I said branding is more than logos and fonts)
How is my business different from the competition?
You ever heard the statement, there is nothing new under the sun? So, whatever you are doing someone is most likely doing it. But let us assume you are doing something no one has done before, just wait for it once they see you are making money, they would come in like bees to honey. What would be that special ingredient that would make you stand out?
You know Shoprite? What makes them different from other stores? This is how they put it
“At the heart of our offering is an unanswering dedication to providing
the lowest prices in a world-class shopping environment to people of all
income levels across Africa.”
Now you can go…to the branding agency of course, but if it is too expensive for your check out this post.
