When someone says “Coca-Cola”, you instantly think of the world’s best selling beverage.
Why is this? To put it simply, a long time ago Coke did an amazing job at defining its brand. Consequently, while there will always be close competitors (such as PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper/Snapple), Coke will most likely always be the juggernaut and number one player in this marketplace.
While this may seem like an idealistic and impossible to achieve goal, this is what every business and brand should be aiming for. In order to develop the highest levels of customer loyalty, it’s essential to clearly define your brand and your mission, therefore making it easy to recognize. After all, your brand is the personality of your business and sufficient time and effort must be given to its development in order to ensure it authentically represents the company.
Whatever stage of the Marketing journey you’re at, follow our simple guide below to keep you on track to reaching the promised land of brand success.
Define Your USP
Short for ‘Unique Selling Proposition’, this is the factor or factors that sets you apart from your competitors. Start by identifying your target audience and looking at your competitors to discover areas where you may be able to win in the market. Test and refine this USP and finally, develop an effective communications strategy to relay this unique offering to your customers.
Develop Strong Brand Assets
From logos to taglines and fonts to photography, consistency is key when it comes to developing strong brand assets. Attention must be paid to every little detail within each element (e.g. ensuring you use the same or similar fonts on your website as to your marketing collateral). When all these elements are effectively brought together, their strength is greater than the sum of their parts.
Build a Strong Brand Character
How your brand speaks to the outside world is a major factor in how people perceive and view your brand. From the tone of voice and language you use to how the imagery and messages of the brand convey the essence of your brand, it all needs to be considerate and calculated correctly. Good examples of this include Red Bull, who are humorous, happy, playful and push the idea of getting the edge on life.
So, what do you think?
Are there any companies out there right now that you feel are absolutely killing it on the branding front? Or do you have any queries for the 7 Pillars team on your own brand?
Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.