Before evaluating your brand, it’s important to define what branding is. Branding is so much more than just a logo or a tagline, it is the deliberate act of influencing identity—the intangible impression that exists only in the mind.
Sometimes it’s hard to wrap your mind around what exactly branding is, especially since there’s so much that goes into a brand strategy. The very act of branding is creating a feeling that consumers can latch on to.
When we dive into branding we always want to make sure we understand every little aspect of a person’s business to ensure their brand is truly reflective of their values and beliefs. Here are 4 questions to reflect on when it comes to evaluating your brand:
- Does your brand relate to your target audience? (To answer this question, first you’ll need to have a clearly defined audience.) Will your target audience instantly “get” your brand without working too hard to try to figure it out?
- Does your brand display its uniqueness and importance to your target audience? How is your brand creating the feeling of need or want in your audience?
- Does your brand reflect the promise that you are making to your target audience as well as to your employees and contractors? Do your employees as well as your potential/ current customers know exactly what your company promise is? Are your employees clearly portraying this promise? Do your customers understand your company’s promise?
- Does your brand reflect the values that you want to represent? Is your brand representing and reflecting the characteristics and core beliefs that you have defined for your company?
Branding is about creating an impression that reflects the core values and beliefs of your company. A brand should create an instant feeling – it should require very little thought and contemplation. The questions above can serve as a guideline in the development of your brand if you don’t already have one in place or are looking to evaluate it. If you do have a brand and the answers to the questions above aren’t clear or immediately identifiable you may want to return to the drawing board and rethink your strategy.
If you’re struggling with branding please feel free to contact us here (we’re local to San Antonio but work with companies all over) and together we can build a solid brand for your business.
By Leia Unger
