Consistent Look and Feel - Branding and Positioning
Branding and Positioning
Posted by Adam Hayes
When your customers think about your business, what comes to their minds? How have you branded and positioned your business?
You've set your sites on a specific group, you know what they need and you've got it. Now all you need to do is let them know that you are the answer to their problems. This is where positioning comes in. Positioning is the process of placing your product in a specific place in your customer's mind. What do you want to come to your customer's minds when they hear your company's name. Conversely, does your company come to mind when they think about the product or service that you provide? For example, what comes to mind when you think "fast food". What comes to mind when you hear "Nike". These companies have carefully positioned their product in your mind. You can do the same thing.
Some questions to ask yourself are:
- What positioning have you created for your product/business
- How would you like to position your product in your customers' minds
- What is the biggest need met by your company for your customers
Now you can start building your branding around that position.
Branding is the sum total of all the images and thoughts that people have in their heads about a particular company. Most importantly, you need to understand that you can brand everywhere. Branding happens everywhere your customers might see your product.
- Do you have a color scheme and do you stick to it
- Do you have a specific typeface and use it in all of your correspondences?
- Do you have a consistent look and feel to every piece of marketing material that goes out of your business including faxes, emails, advertisements, web site design, business cards, letterheads, scratch paper, envelopes, etc? Why not
- Does your branding support your positioning?
If your business isn't providing a consistent look and feel, you are like a team of horses pulling in opposite directions. Nothing gets done. However, if you line your horses up to all go the same direction, then you will get somewhere. As mentioned before, when you brand and position your company, you need to focus on benefits rather than features.
People are very "ME" centered. It is unfortunately our nature. People are interested in how the product will benefit them, not the features. For example, don't say "Flash provides vector graphic support." Say "Your clients will not have to wait for long downloads because Flash's vector graphics download up to 100 times faster than normal images."
Proper branding and positioning are critical for people to associate between your print media, online media, and the needs that only your business can meet.
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