{"id":8229,"date":"2014-10-02T21:02:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T21:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.123print.com\/blog\/?p=8229"},"modified":"2015-07-16T17:56:38","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T17:56:38","slug":"branding-promise-keep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/branding-promise-keep\/","title":{"rendered":"Branding: A Promise You Keep"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an old truism that a company\u2019s brand is its most important asset. When executed correctly, an effective brand strategy establishes\u00a0a\u00a0significant\u00a0and differentiated presence in the\u00a0market\u00a0that helps attract and retain loyal\u00a0customers.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first establish what is meant by a brand.\u00a0 Simply put, it\u2019s a promise.\u00a0 It informs customers what they can expect when they purchase your products and services.\u00a0 An effective brand should clearly differentiate you from your competition.<\/p>\n

Branding is a simple concept, yet requires you to take a long, hard look at your business today and what you would like it to be in the future.\u00a0 Brand starts with seeing the business through the eyes of your employees and customers.\u00a0 This amalgam of positive and constructive feedback and emotions must be thoroughly analyzed and digested.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The best way to reach brand consensus is to answer the five following questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What do you specialize in? What do you do best?<\/li>\n
  2. Are you truly innovative, a leader in your industry, or simply a resourceful follower?<\/li>\n
  3. What is the mission of your company? Its values?\u00a0 What drives your team?<\/li>\n
  4. Who is your target market? Who do your products and services attract?<\/li>\n
  5. Do your products and services fall in the premium or economy pricing category?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Once you\u2019ve defined your brand, it\u2019s time to effectively communicate its key messages:<\/p>\n

    Design a great logo<\/strong>.\u00a0 It\u2019s the foundation of your brand and should become synonymous with your business.\u00a0 Make sure your website, stationery, promotional materials, packaging, email signature, etc. features your logo.<\/p>\n

    Integrate.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0Your branding philosophy will extend to every aspect of your business\u2014website content, how your employees answer the phones, your advertising approach, all emails and correspondence, statements and invoices, essentially everything.\u00a0 Every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.\u00a0 When employees start to talk the talk and walk the walk\u2014especially those on the front lines\u2014you can be confident that the branding messages are being effectively conveyed with both leads and customers.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>Develop a tagline<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have a tagline for your company? What message does it convey?<\/p>\n

    Be sure it captures the essence of your brand.\u00a0 It should be a memorable, meaningful and concise statement.\u00a0 Caution:\u00a0 Taglines perceived as \u201ccutesy\u201d or clever are often rejected by consumers. \u00a0Consumers are searching for high quality products with great value, great service and future support.<\/p>\n

    Be true to your brand.<\/strong>\u00a0Customers will not come back\u2014or refer you to someone else\u2014if you don’t deliver on your brand promise.<\/p>\n

    Consistency<\/strong>.\u00a0 Consistency is the key to differentiate your business.\u00a0 If you are unable to maintain a consistent message, your attempts at establishing a brand will eventually fail.<\/p>\n

    Note: It\u2019s a great temptation to go in directions that do not directly relate or enhance your brand.\u00a0 Someone may suggest that you start running banner ads on various websites.\u00a0 Stop yourself and ask – what does it mean for your business?\u00a0 Does it align with your brand position or is it just something that might confuse your audience?\u00a0 Every action you take must be viewed through the prism of your brand.<\/p>\n

    One final note. . .<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    123Print is in the process rebranding itself.\u00a0 While it\u2019s still essentially the same brand promise made over eight years ago when it was founded\u2014\u201coffer high quality printing at affordable prices with incredibly fast turnaround\u201d\u2014the time to refresh and extend the branding message was long overdue.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be seeing the new branding in the coming months!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s an old truism that a company\u2019s brand is its most important asset. When executed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1448,7],"tags":[149,180,731,1784,1785],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8229"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8229"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8896,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8229\/revisions\/8896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}