Branding is the key to success. In the cluttered global market, your company's brand is the way the outside world perceives your product or service. Many business problems revolve around poor branding: your clients might think you're too small for a job, or not technically capable, or charge too much. Common customer grievances could be alleviated by a positive brand image.
Branding isn't necessarily tangible. It touches the emotive side of human behavior - you feel, see, or relate to a brand. But because it has such power it needs to be managed in any organization, no matter how big or small.
Think about McDonalds and you will see the yellow arches, in the shape of an "M". Think of Nike and the swoosh is the first image in your mind.
It doesn't have to take millions of dollars and 15 marketing consultancies to come up with a great logo, but make sure you get a professional designer to make it.
Many organizations rely too heavily on their logo, assuming it defines their brand. But a brand is much more than a visual mark—it's an emotional connection built through every interaction customers have with your business.
Branding encompasses much more than just a logo; it includes the color palette, typography, brand elements, visual language, and the brand's voice. It is the consistent application of these elements that truly defines a brand's identity.
The start point of your branding is the logo. From there everything the company produces or owns should "feel" like it comes from your company. When you walk by a pile of documents on a desk, you should recognize that it's from your company. It's not just plonking the logo everywhere.
These are things to keep in mind for good branding:
It's perfectly normal that a logo starts to look outdated in over decades, so it needs a refresh. In this case, you should aim to keep the most recognizable characteristics of the old logo, so people will automatically know it's the same company when they first see the new logo.
Warning: Be careful before redesigning - Some brands are constantly changing in order to “stay fresh”, but that’s a mistake. Customers stay loyal through habit, not because you've forced something new and unfamiliar on them.
You can still create immediate brand recognition even when it's not applicable to use your full company logo. This can be achieved by taking symbols or motifs out of your main logo and using them in your branding material.
Business cards are essential tools for networking and making a lasting impression on potential clients or business partners. However, traditional paper business cards can present various issues in today's digital age.
Email signatures are a great way of adding some advertising and branding. You should always use a nice email signature for external emails. Internally, you may use a short one (just your name or initials).
Changing the appearance of your browser's new tabs can greatly enhance your browsing experience and add a touch of personalization. By incorporating branding elements, you can make your browsing sessions more enjoyable and reflective of your unique style.
At SSW, after consulting, the second tier of our business are the software products. It should be obvious, as soon as our software is run, which company built the application. And more than just plonking the logo in the corner - the app should be recognizable even if the logo has been taken away.
Think of a sporting event and it's likely that you can think of a sponsor for the event. For example:
The list goes on...
It's a good idea to brand company cars when they're on the road. These cars are essentially moving billboards for the company.
Your people are a huge part of what makes your company awesome or unique, so you should use this to your advantage by asking them to be your walking spokespersons and/or billboards. Branding your employees is especially important at events such as conferences, user groups and client meetings. A simple way to do this is to wear branded shirts or t-shirts every day.
If you wear a collard shirt, your corporate uniform should be simple and stylish - don't forget that your branding can be subtle and effective at the same time.
Also remember that uniforms don't have to be boring or uncomfortable, but they do need to represent who you are as a company. If you decided to do something fun, pop culture t-shirts are always a popular choice, particularly at conferences, but you should take great care to make sure that the message aligns with your corporate image. If you nail this, your employees will love to wear your t-shirts to work and out in the general community, adding to your exposure.
Consistency is the most important part of branding. It leads to familiarity which builds brand recognition.
A simple and effective method is prefixing job titles everywhere they appear with the company name.
You should remember that any point of contact leaves an impression on clients or customers so, as a consultant, even the answering service on your phone should be taken into consideration.
Your personal mobile phone should have a standard answering message for any missed calls.
While many people don't use voice mail now, it's still nice to include subtle SSW branding in your message (noting that choosing to do so is entirely your choice).
How often are you sitting at your desk typing away and having an open cup of tea or coffee or glass of water sitting right next to your computer? Do you know how much liquid it takes to kill your computer? The answer is not much; some of our developers found this out the hard way and on more than one occasion.
There is an alternative, though, which if in the event spillages occur, limits the amount of liquid being released. Travel safety mugs and sports water bottles are a great way of protecting your computer from unwanted damage from spillage.
They also make a fantastic gift to clients, which is an opportunity for you to have a constant reminder of your business in their face and their clients.
You should take every chance you get to put your logo on things. Branding your assets is one more thing that you can do to spread your brand to the world.
If you get a physical gift (e.g. wine bottle or a hamper), you can add stickers on the gifts for better branding.
In case you go for a virtual gift, e.g. An e-voucher (usually sent via email), you can also add your logo to it.
Using branded stickers on coffee cups is a great way to promote your brand at events, conferences, training seminars and other functions. It is a cost-effective way to make a lasting impression about your brand.
LinkedIn is the main business and employment-oriented social networking service available. It's important to keep it up-to-date and link it to your company's services.
It is great when people use screenshots. You can communicate better by using screenshots with balloons and other visual elements (arrows, shapes, and highlights) instead of only text. Read the benefits of using screenshots.