Grow your brand assets

Raise your hand if you think brand management is just for big companies (like Target, McDonalds or Ford.) Wow! That's a lot of hands! Well, you're all wrong.

Brand issues are important to all companies for the simple reason that people buy from other people. People have personalities. Branding establishes and communicates a company's personality (sometimes referred to as company image.)

Think about your company. What personality or image do you want to present to customers and prospects? Warm, friendly, and down-to-earth? Polished, knowledgeable, and sophisticated?

Does your company's logo and literature design reflect the image you want to present? Is your company's personality presented consistently throughout all forms of communication?

Overwhelmed? Let me simplify. There are four key steps in brand management:

1) Positioning - identify your company's unique benefits and image.
2) Planning - develop a road map for brand identity programs.
3) Protection - guard the integrity of your brand.
4) Promotion - build awareness of and preference for your brand.

Brand management is an ongoing process, not a destination. Bad news: the work is never done. Good news: if you do the positioning and planning up front, protection and promotion programs flow naturally.