How's Your Brand? Is It Time To Rebrand?

A brand is the sum total of all perceptions in your target customers’ minds, a synergy of the entire customer experience. This includes what your customers think of you and their reflections on everything you present to the outside world.  Emails, Facebook posts, Tweets, official company descriptors (such as the “About Us” tab on your website) , and yes, even the logo on your business cards all play roles in defining your company’s brand image by inviting consumer judgments. It’s a complicated integration of experiences, feelings, and personalities that make your customers love (or hate) your company.

Branding is the process of using a number of tools to introduce the brand message to your customers, as well as gain awareness, build preference, and invite them to create a consistently positive customer experience with your brand.

Six Things That A Brand Is Not:

1. Positioning. A positioning statement defines the image a company wants to hold in customers’ minds in relation to its competitors. A position is often described as the meaningful difference between the brand and its competitors — though the positioning statement itself is rarely made public. It is the touchstone for developing a brand identity, new products, creative copy, and designs for advertising, marketing, and public relations efforts. 
2. Name. It’s the first impression that starts to define and identify the company or product. The name is eventually what you want to be synonymous to “the best” or the “only one” in the minds of customers. If you’re extraordinary, it may even become synonymous with the product no matter who makes it, i.e., Xerox, Band-Aid, Kleenex.
3. Logo. Put simply, a logo brings the company to life graphically. A picture is truly easier to remember than words. Thus, you want a picture you can embed in the minds of your customers, one with which they will identify when hearing your name, seeing your product or even noticing a logo that is similar. Your logo sets the stage for the corporate identity and the graphic standards by identifying the colors that represent your company. Generally, your identity pieces include a logo, color scheme/graphic standards, and a tagline that all relate to your positioning.
4. Tagline. A tagline is a short, written expression of your brand’s position or promise to the customer. Not every company needs or wants a tagline, but you will have a position and a brand in your customers’ minds whether or not you have a tagline.
5. Business Card, Brochure, Signage, Packaging, Trade Show Booth, etc. These are more branding tools or extensions of your corporate identity that support your logo, colors and product/service benefits.
6. Website. A website is where your advertising and marketing efforts reinforce the brand’s informational content with a vibrant mixture of feelings and experiences. Websites are where your potential customers go to find out more about what it will be like to deal with you, or where an existing customer goes to experience once more the benefits of your brand.

When To “Rebrand” — Evaluating Your Options

If you are a new organization or start-up company, spending everything on a logo design without adequate market research and position planning is not a good move. On the other hand, if your organization or company has been around for a while, it is important to begin the rebranding process with an assessment of where you are now:

• What does the market look like today?
• Who are your customers (in detail)?
• How is your brand positioned in the market versus your competitors?
• How do your customers describe their experiences with your brand (in detail)?

(Where are the gaps between your brand promise and customer experiences?)

• Has your vision or mission changed (or evolved) into something more/different?
• Does your logo look dated (old-fashioned)? 
• Is your tagline or company descriptor still an accurate reflection of your brand?

Design Seduction -- It is easy to be lured by the excitement of diving into designing a brand graphic identity, but whether you’re a start-up or an established business owner, doing your research and pre-planning goes a long way toward ensuring yours is a brand your customers will love.

TURCHETTE is a full-service agency which offers brand marketing and public relations across a broad range of b2b and b2c industry sectors.  According to NJ BIZ, Turchette is among the TOP 20 NJ ad agencies in 2015. Turchette is located in Fairfield, NJ and was founded in 1950.