Building a Brand

We absolutely love our clients. They are kind, motivated people who we enjoy working and interacting with, which in turn, inspires us to help turn their branding and marketing efforts into successful ventures.

In fact, we learn just as much from them as we hope they do from us.

For example, have you ever been part of a meeting when a fellow co-worker has tried explaining your brand, but you felt he or she was way off of the mark? Have you ever experienced that moment when you realize some of the staff in your company does not perceive your band the same way you do?

We have.

When the ambassadors (staff) representing the brand do not consistently understand the brand persona, position, attributes, core, etc., this may reflect in a miscommunication with consumers. Have you ever asked past, present, or potential clients how they interpret your brand? Do they understand it the way it is was intentioned?

During the brand discovery phase with one of our recent clients, they debated on how to pronounce their own brand name. Mind you, this company is well known and established globally.

We witness these types of conversations quite often with our own clients when initiating our branding process. It’s actually quite rewarding to go into a company, have the staff realize they actually are not all on the same page when it comes to understanding and promoting their brand, and then work with them until we are all able to not only understand the brand in the same way, but also communicate it to others as such!

We have put together some samples of how we use our Mindstorm branding process to help our brands become more cohesive and definitive:

How do you define your brand?

When a consumer (potential or not) thinks of your brand, what do you want their initial reaction to be? While you will need to get a solid understanding of who you want to be before you begin the branding process, the other questions asked will help to finalize it when we come back around to it at the end.

We believe to build a strong brand, one needs:

• to provide superior delivery or services for the brand
• to understand the brand meaning
• a range of complementary elements that support marketing efforts
• to communicate with a consistent voice
• to establish and own a brand personality
• to develop strategic pricing based on consumer insights
• to design and implement a brand concept
• to establish a brand awareness strategic plan
• a brand ambassador
• Define your future.
• Where do you fit into the marketplace?
• Who are your consumers? Competition? Budget? Online?

Define your brand foundation.

When building a brand, it is our belief that the brand must start with a solid foundation, a basis that has strong core values and extreme focus. This foundation is crucial in a variety of ways, and especially critical when entering new consumer channels.

Define your brand attributes.

What are the core values of your business you want your consumers to experience the most? Do you focus on customer service, like Chick-fil-A and Nordstrom, fast service like Jimmy Johns or FedEx, or possibly modern innovation like Apple or Tesla.

Define your brand benefits.

How will the consumer benefit from working with your brand? Even though it may seem obvious to you, it may not be for the consumer. Lay it out and repeat throughout.

Define your brand persona.

What is your personality? Masculine? Feminine? Professional? Quirky? Which traits do you want your tone to reflect? Whatever you decide, it is crucial to maintain consistency throughout all mediums, which means every team member must be on the same page when it comes to understanding your brand persona!

Define your brand position.

This solidifies your brand identity in terms of personality, messaging, look, and feel. We suggest creating a various mood boards (this can even be done on Pinterest), to see what you are drawn to as representation of your brand. Dark colors? Cute? Bold? Laid-Back?

So, let me ask you again. How do you define your success?

For more information on how we can help you define your success, visit www.gomindstorm.com. About Mindstorm Communications Group: Mindstorm is a full-service creative marketing, branding, and design agency located in Charlotte, NC.