Creating a new brand in trying times – embrace the fundamentals PART 2

PART 2 of three blog posts

Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore

Plan from start to finish
Make sure right from the start that you are clear on the scope of the brand building project. Work with the branding consultant to plan the stages and establish the likely budget you will require to build the brand, market it, communicate it and manage it. This can vary significantly depending on the type and size of the business, and its objectives, products, services and locations. Work out a realistic and achievable schedule and determine performance criteria by which you will measure success once the brand is established and working for you.

Ensure you are very clear on the values and vision that underpin your brand

Discover who you want to be and how to get there
Working with the branding consultant you will be challenged with some fundamental questions relating to the objectives you have for the brand. Basically they need to discover the real you and determine whether your future plans are sound and achievable. Questions such as “What activities will the new business engage in now and in the foreseeable future?” “Have you researched the market to determine whether there is a need for your products and services?” “How different is your offer to those of your competitors?” “What perceptions do you believe customers will have of the business?” “What values and vision will drive the business?” “Do you have a name for the business – one that is distinctive and won’t infringe a competitor’s trade mark?”

Create your vision for the future
Without a bulletproof vision for the future, one that is achievable and sustainable, you will falter all the way to insolvency. All the great companies have a powerful, unique and passionate vision that permeates their entire organisation. Without one there are no clear objectives for the brand to work towards and no identifiable goals to achieve. It only achieves success when it is embraced by all employees and becomes inextricably linked to the brand.

The name is the most important element of the new brand
Everyone with whom you interact will refer to you by name. It is the one element you hope never to change. It must appeal to target audiences and be relevant to the nature of your business. The name you choose for a new fashion house for example, will be very different to that you would choose for a new accountancy firm. Remember that new names are very difficult to register, either as a company or as a URL for your website – there aren’t that many words left in the English language! Consider whether you will need to extend the name in the future. Can the name be extended to accommodate a complementary line of business? Can it be registered in another country in which you may want to operate?

Defining the brand
This is the process of determining the essence of your brand – identifying those characteristics that make it unique, attractive and able to generate positive perceptions in your customers that it is the only one that can satisfy their needs. These include personality, values, differentiators and more. To be successful, a new brand must be differentiated from all others and be easily recognised. The objective is to build a high level of brand awareness by creating an emotional attachment with customers and positioning in their minds that drives incontestable loyalty and sales success.

Creating a powerful ‘look & feel’
Your new brand must look unique and distinctive. Key elements of the brand must be created – logo, positioning statement, colours, imagery and brand language for later application into product packaging, marketing, communications and branded environments. First impressions are important but so is consistent application of the brand. Having a ‘look & feel’ for marketing material that bears little resemblance to the ‘look & feel’ of your website will get you nowhere. Audiences are increasingly looking for interactive experiences underpinned by compelling messages that bring them closer – physically and emotionally.

Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant, founder of Heywood Innovation in Australia, United Kingdom and India, and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.

View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au

Share on Facebook