My grandmother is the quintessential sweet old lady next door. She bakes her own cakes, makes her own preserves and grates her soap bars to use as laundry detergent. She’s from a simple era where product quality was assumed; choices were scarce and value was determined by what a product or service could offer you, not by its brand.
We live in a very different world today. In fact, it is estimated that there are around 500,000 brands in the world ranging over more than 2000 different product/service categories*. We are saturated with choice, and now, thanks to the Internet, are also part of a global market where the competition is fierce. For this reason, it has never been more important for business to develop a reputable brand for themselves. In fact, it could make or break your business.
Wait, what exactly is a brand?
We don’t mean to state the obvious. The definition of a brand can actually be a little confusing. A brand is not defined by the services you offer, product you sell or the people you employ. Instead, your brand should be a bit of a ‘stew’ of these elements. Your brand is the unique identity you have cultivated to home your business and encompasses the following elements.
Aesthetic: What you look like across platforms including website, socials and documents. This includes deciding on fonts, colours, graphics and logos. A strong brand will not deviate from their aesthetic elements and will ensure that their branding is visible on all internal and external communication channels.
Culture: What core values make up your business? Is productivity your main focus? Or are you a people-centric business? Do you value a work/play environment? If so, how do you implement said values in the day-to-day running of your workplace? The culture of your business is a part of your brand because it sets the tone for the language of your business. Your employees will push to sell what they believe your business cares about and it becomes the centre of the relationship your brand develops with each and every one of your customers.
Mission: What is the goal that drives your business beyond making money? Your company’s mission is what differentiates you from your competitors and is the heartbeat behind what you do.
People often forget about culture and mission when they are thinking about the branding of their business but make no mistake, the culture and mission of your organisation will be displayed through your website, socials and every interaction your customers have with your business. It cannot be ignored.
THE POWER OF YOUR BRAND
As I mentioned earlier, times have changed since our grandmothers shopped with minimal choice and on a minimal budget. These days, the recognition of your brand can become as valuable as the service or product itself that you are selling. When the television was invented and later the internet, the world saw an advertising boom that changed the game, turning well known brands into household names. These days, a brand that is built well and creates rapport with its market, creates ‘equity’ in its own name.
Let’s take a look at a familiar scenario that many of us have seen over the past few years. Sally starts making dummy chains as a side hustle and begins selling them on her personal Instagram page but her market is small (just family and friends) and she often feels like she has to heavily discount her product (“mates-rates”) or at least, compete with chain stores who are able to mass produce the product and cut costs. Sally realises that if her business is going to grow she has to find a way to increase her market, raise her prices and sell more.
In the hopes of reaching a broader market she then asks a marketing company to help her create a website and curate her socials. This builds her brand and overtime Sally starts to connect with a following. She is no longer “Sally’s side hustle,” she has now become a small boutique with a community of followers who connect with her content as well as her product. However, Sally’s price-point still remains too low, and she is not selling enough product to cover costs. One day, one of Sally’s followers send her a message on her socials with a picture of a similar product sold at a chain store and asks “what is the difference between your product and this one?”
It’s a fair question and it causes Sally to think a lot about her business, “Why is she making this product? What is she hoping to achieve? What really does set her apart from her competitors?” Sally realises that the brand she has created online has become a community of Mum’s that share experiences and ideas and that there is value in the platform she has created. She decides to brand her dummy chains as a ‘boutique” product and leverages unique parts of what she offers such as her custom colours and ability to gift-wrap. Furthermore, Sally raises the price of her product in an effort to set her apart from cheaper, chain store options on the market.
It’s a bold move, but it pays off. The brand that Sally has developed has created it’s own equity and has set her apart from her original chain store competitors. Her customers feel connected to her brand and she sells out her current stock overnight. That’s right, she RAISES her prices, and overnight, SELLS OUT, a product she was struggling to sell at a cheaper price, due to the higher end brand she has created.
While we have painted a simple scenario, and we understand that there are more elements to building a strong and successful brand, investing the time to understand your market and differentiate yourself from your competition, is what will make or break your brand and therefore your business. Doing the hard yards up front will reap the benefits in the long run.
If you're wanting to give your brand the competitive edge it deserves, we also recommend undertaking brand mapping. A less text driven strategy, brand mapping visually displays current or potential customers' brand perception compared to industry competitors. Comparing your brand in an overall market context is beneficial to your business and ensures you are keeping your finger on the pulse.
RubyOnyx is passionate about the careful curation of your brand. We make an effort to understand what sets your brand apart from its competitors and ensure that the aesthetic, language and strategic direction behind your brand reflects your culture and your mission. So if you want to learn more about how we can help you and your brand, contact us today.
Nielsen Media 2018*