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Distinctive color, shape increase recognition
By Russ Vernon Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Monday, Aug 06, 2007
Branding is hardly a new concept. Shopkeepers practiced branding with their ''marks'' 2000 years ago.
Branding can be a color (such as Nexium, the purple pill, or the Yellow Pages). Or it can be a distinctive shape, such as the Coca-Cola bottle, or a symbol, like the Goodyear winged foot. See the stylized check mark ''swoosh'' on an athletic shoe, and it shouts Nike.
Your company is first and foremost a brand striving to set itself apart through awareness and meaning. Webster defines brand as ''a class of goods identified as a distinctive product (or service) of a particular firm or producer.''
Brand is the customer's dominant perception of a company. What you do, how you do it, what you say, how you say it, how you look, along with the quality/value of your product or service, critically influences your company's identity with the consumer. You are who your customers say who you are. Make your brand noteworthy.
In a world where the majority of businesses have the same technology you do and offer great service, it only allows you the privilege of staying in the game. What is it that makes a product or service special? What is it that differentiates your business from the competition?
To brand and grow your business, seek advantage and uniqueness. Look for ways to add value to products and services. Value is not the same as price. Value is the benefit(s) offered for the price you ask. Good business happens when they are in balance. Seek to create a market, not share one.
A business that makes a commitment to its core products and services will not have an ''identity crisis.'' Customers/clients won't be confused by what your business provides and to whom the products and services appeal.
If you know more about your customers/clients than your competition and do the best job of satisfying their needs and desires, it is possible to have less competition. Baby your customers and worship your staff. It's an attitude and personal commitment that breeds success.
In the next decade, more than ever before, business will be customer driven. Competition has never been as fierce as it is today. Appealing to the ever-changing, sometimes fickle customer will be the challenge that determines the winners and losers in the marketplace. Entrepreneurs can never afford to be satisfied or complacent.
Make a ''top down, bottom up'' commitment to excellence. Never take the customer/client for granted. Adapt to change and create faster than the competition can copy! This will determine your share of the market whether you succeed or fall by the wayside in the customer-driven business marathon.
Russ Vernon, chairman of the West Point Market in Akron, is a SCORE counselor. For information on small business, contact SCORE at 330-379-3163 or at http://www.akronscore.org on the Internet.
Branding is hardly a new concept. Shopkeepers practiced branding with their ''marks'' 2000 years ago.
Get the full article here.
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