One way to think about a brand is a kind of ‘shorthand’ designed to stop consumers from thinking about anything else other than your brand / product.  Get branding right and you have customers for life.  Get it wrong and you may never take off in business.

Take a look at this ‘basement video’ I made with my colleague Phil Hawthorn to understand the power of brands.  We look at Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nike, Madonna, Pepsi and Prince in this short video.

Unilever is a particularly interesting example of a brand which has managed to preserve the diversity of its many different operating companies, which, in their own words:

“We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life”

This is exemplified down to the last detail in the logo for the company, which sells products from Dove, to Lipton Tea, to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and the logo carries meanings which include freshness, love, beauty, science, farming, freedom and so on – a pretty tall order for any corporation to live up to, but a mighty ambition nonetheless.

The ultimate test of a brand is the extent to which it enables your company to have longevity as Unilever have demonstrated over 120 years.  To see what I mean through the power of music, take a look at the 45 year old brand that is Pink Floyd:

And finally, purely for fun, the word branding began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp.  In a moment of musical madness, my Country and Western Glam Rock band (The Cowpokers) took this lesson literally, in a satirical pastiche of the classic Queen song ‘We Will Brand You’.  The audience is initially deluded into thinking that the rhythm track will be exactly as the original, but later on find out that it is not….

We are speaking / performing about brands and customer service at the Customer Service Training Awards on Friday 8th July at Heathrow.  Check out our starter menu of corporate event offerings for your next conference at RUEXPERIENCED.

Whether you need address labels or a safety sign, it’s important that your labels be well-designed and project the right impression of your company.

Labels can be a crucial part of making a good impression on potential customers. Oftentimes, a customer’s contact with your business will be through mailings, packaging, product labels or signs. These labels will become part of your business’s identity and will shape the ideas customers have about your company. Poorly-made labels could make customers think your business is run by people who don’t know how to use technology. Customers may believe products with boring or confusing labels are also boring or confusing.

Professional labels can also increase sales and your customer base. When address labels, product labels and signs are eye-catching and sharp, they are more likely to grab customers’ attention. When customers can’t distinguish between similar products, they are more likely to choose the one with the best-looking label. Companies that post a well-designed safety sign show customers that they are concerned about their well-being.

If you can’t afford to hire a graphic designer to create professional labels, many computer software programs make it easy to design them yourself. Don’t let poorly-made labels create the wrong idea about your company.

Build A Brand In 30 Days with Simon Middleton

Simon Middleton’s business self-help book ‘Build a Brand in 30 Days’ has shot to the top of the ‘Small Business Branding’ chart on Amazon.

‘Build a Brand in 30 Days’ brings intelligent brand strategy into the realms of every businessperson and every business regardless of size. You don’t need a marketing degree or intensive training to build an attention-grabbing brand; you just need this book – and 30 days.

“No matter how high your budget the fundamental truths of brand and branding remain the same,” explains Mr Middleton, who has advised British Airways, Barclays, Aviva, Pret A Manger, The Broads National Park on branding.

“’Brand’ isn’t to do with logo, or even with advertising, but with meaning. Your brand is what YOU mean to your audiences, and it consists of four vital elements: being authentic, being distinctive, being compelling, and being good at something.”

Middleton made an appearance on BBC TV’s Newsnight in discussion with Jeremy Paxman  last week about the effect of the Quantas A380 incident on the brand of Rolls-Royce.

See our review of Build a Brand in 30 Days by Simon Middleton.

Build A Brand In 30 Days with Simon Middleton

Simon Middleton is promoted as ‘the brand strategy expert’ in his new book, Build a Brand in 30 Days.

Brand is serious and important to your business: but it’s also very simple in its essence. Brand is about meaning. In short, your brand is the sum total of all the meanings that all your possible audiences carry around about you in their heads and in their hearts.

Build A Brand In 30 Days is divided appropriately into 30 days each with a clear exercise to follow.

I am always sceptical about self or business help books that attempt to sell you a concept on the basis that anyone who buys this book and follows these simple steps can reach their goal’.

Life isn’t as simple and straightforward as that.  If it were, anyone who put any effort or dedication into running a successful business would indeed be…. successful.

Branding is probably something that many small business owners overlook, believe is not approrirate to their business due to size or cost.  But theis book shows it is important and can ve applied for less money that is often perceived; and like all good business books, it helps you to focus on a strategy and a way of thinking.

Aimed at new enterprises, businesses struggling to stand-out from the crowd or in need of reinvention, Build A Brand In 30 Days shows you how to create, manage and communicate your brand profoundly and effectively, in just 30 days, by following 30 clear exercises.

In his introduction Simon Middleton states the reader can use Build A Brand In 30 Days to:

•    Educate yourself fast in the art of branding
•    Actually build a proper brand for your business or for any of its products or services
•    Build a brand for a charity or public sector organization
•    Build a brand for your team or department within a bigger organization
•    Build your own personal brand in order to enhance your career

What I like about Simon Middleton’s book is the way he has broken down the exercises into bite-size chunks, allowing the small business owner or would-be entrepreneur to see the wood from the trees; and by undertaking these 30 exercises, even if it takes longer than 30 days, the focus you will achieve with your company brand will for sure raise your company profile and help you onwards, towards business success.

Build A Brand In 30 Days shows you how to:

•    Establish your brand values and positioning
•    Get the all-important name right
•    Bring your brand to life
•    Turn your customers into your advocates
•    Manage your PR and use your marketing budget wisely
•    Inspire your staff to live the brand
•    Deal with problems when something goes wrong

One of the exercises explains how to create a ‘Personality‘ for your business that customers will respond to.  Reading some of the points also helps you to look at why you like other brands and  to apply that to your own brand.

Build A Brand In 30 Days is the ideal guide to branding for entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises (SME’s). Published by Capstone, price £12.99.