Branding Square II: The Average Circle
As a follow on from The Branding Square, we wanted to answer the question, “What if you are bang in the middle?”
This is what we call, the average circle.
The Average Circle is home to a company that has a decent product or service, and a decent brand identity that communicates the benefits of their service well. However it isn’t a company that is all that exciting, a bit average! You see lots of companies that do similar things in a similar way, not realising that if they worked on their brand they could differentiate themselves and do better. We aren’t saying that being in this circle is necessarily a bad thing, many ‘average’ companies do very well, and make a good living, however to take your company to the next level, you need to be interesting… more interesting than your other ‘average’ peers!
So, how do you stop yourself from being average? Using the square, you can see there are 2 things you can work on to take you towards Branding Brilliance…
1. The Value of your Product/Service… how can you increase the value of what product or service you offer? Are there any additional extras that you could include in your offering, that don’t cost you much but gives your customer an added bonus? Or if you are a service based business, how can you deliver your product in a more efficient/effective way, a way that your competitors don’t.
ACTION: This axis is all about the customer experience, so think about your service from a customers point of view, what would make their experience of your company better? If you don’t know, ask your best customers what they think.
2. Your Brand Identity… how can you improve the image your business represents?
ACTION: Ask yourself these questions: What does my company stand for? What is the message I want to put across? What are my company values? Who is my target customer? Once you have a good idea of the answers to these questions, make sure all your communications abide by these answers. By ‘communications’ we mean anything your company puts into the public domain, so your logo, slogan, website, advertising, and even how you talk to people about your business. Sticking to a strict brand identity gives your company consistency, and strengthens your overall brand. People will get what you are all about, and find it easier to either come to you if they need your service, or recommend you to somebody else.
ACTION: Search the ‘branding’ category, to read up about how to strengthen your brand if you think you are in the average circle.