Advice on Building Your Business and Brand Identity

What comes in your mind when you see this swoosh logo of Nike? Perhaps you will remember its famous marketing slogan "Just Do It", right? Some of you might even associate this to the greatest NBA player of all time, Michael Jordan.

That is the power of brand identity. No words or further explanation needed. Just a simple logo or tag line and you already know the answer. If you say "we live to deliver", you know in less than 5 seconds that it is FedEx!

As a startup business, you need establish your identity to your target customers by differentiating yourself from competition. If you have limited products, it is advisable that you develop the identity of your company.

But why should you invest money on building your company identity instead of using your limited resources to other business operation?

To quote from marketing guru David Ogilvy:

"You now have to decide what 'image' you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place."

Below are some concrete reasons why:

1. Be shortlisted. In every business, you will face at the very least 3 direct competitors within your location. If you are in online business, competition grows exponentially. Given such situation, your target customers will only consider one or two companies to buy from.

If you have strong company identity, you have higher chance of getting included in your customers' shortlists. This also gives you the foot in the door or the chance to do follow up promotions about your products or services.

2. Counter any price advantage by competition. A good business or brand identity acts as a shield against existing and upcoming low-cost competitors. This is why you will not see Adidas or Nike adjusting their retail prices because some new, low-cost sneakers are out in the market. Customers will still opt to buy Nike or Adidas because they believe in the value for money.

This is more vital to small businesses for you cannot competently compete against established companies. There is no way you can offer lower price than Wal-Mart or Best Buy. What you can do, instead, is set your own identity by offering excellent customer service or more personal attention.

The next question might come to your mind is what are your options?

I have 4 practical tips:

Free Newsletter

Sharing newsletters with free advices or practical tips to your target market is one way of building your company reputation and expertise in the chosen market. If you have a startup law firm specializing in divorce, you might want to share statistics, legal remedies, alternatives, and even some link to support groups.

I like to refer to this as backend or marketing support because not all newsletter subscribers are definite buyers, most people are simply shopping around. This is your way of establishing connection and a chance of offering your products for future needs. Once you manage to impress them then you will have more customers over the long haul.

Focus on One Strength

As person, how do you like to be remembered? For me, I like to people to say I'm always solution-oriented. This same concept holds true for your business. How do you like customers to remember your company? It is now time your review your strategy, analyze your strengths and weaknesses.

Can you describe to me in one word the airline JetBlue? To me it is "cheap" and I'm sure the majority shares my answer. In your startup business, choose just one aspect that will capture your essence. It can be excellent customer service, fastest delivery time, most extensive network, superior product quality, or continuous innovation.

If you have existing business, do not claim something you cannot fully back up with experience or expertise. In case you are still developing your business plan, make sure your chosen focus is not yet claimed by competition. Otherwise, it will not have significant impact to your customers. It may even spur more intense competition.

Join Forums

If you do not have much traffic in your Website, you can join forums related to your business. This is a good place to network with your potential customers as well as monitor competitor activities.

Going back to our example about a small law firm focused on divorce, you can check out DivorceNet.com as your initial reference. While promoting your services is not allowed during discussions, all members have a "signature" section where they can include links to their Websites. Once you set up your profile, start sharing some tips on different issues like abandonment, parental rights, and many others. Strong presence in forums can help establish credibility of your company.

Promotional Items

Your customers and other business partners are your untapped marketing agents not only because of word-of-mouth advertising they do for free. In fact, you can give free t-shirts, mugs, caps, pens, and other freebies together with your company logo. A good example is the image on the right side which came from Branders.com, the world's largest online seller of promotional items.

Make your promo items relevant to your company or brand identity, as much as possible. Believing all promo items are the same is the most common mistake by many entrepreneurs.

If you are selling luxury items, giving free mugs contradicts your identity. You are supposed to be stylish and exclusive to certain demographics. Moreover, only selected customers must receive these free items. On the other hand, catering to mass market like books require you share as many promo items as possible. Additionally, it is now okay to give free t-shirt or caps.