Are you brand ready?

Building a brand is all about closing the gap between strategy and execution, and standing for something distinctive in your clients’ minds. Simon Wedde has more on what it takes to be ‘brand ready’. 

What’s your brand worth? Actually, what is your brand? No, we’re not talking about your logo, but your brand.  

Aren’t they the same thing, you say? 

If you think so, or the answers to these seemingly simple questions aren’t at all clear – like a lot of Kiwi companies, you’re probably undervaluing your business and are not brand ready. 

So just how do you go about assessing your brand, if those first two simple questions turned out to be a bit tricky?

That’s something that has led to pondering about how we have various metrics for various aspects of life. There are BMIs to keep some sort of tabs on health; WOFs to help make sure the car is fit for purpose, and now there are Health Stars to provide some insight into the nutritive value of food.

But there’s nothing to assess your business for brand readiness.

OK, that’s no longer entirely true. But before we go there, let’s start with why it might be important to establish a brand.

This brings us back to those simple/difficult opening questions. Your brand is your most important business asset. It is the representation of what you do exceptionally well and why it matters.  

It is the gut instinct clients have about your business or product, and why they might intuitively have a preference for you. That applies whether you’re a startup or a giant like Coca-Cola.

Assessing your brand readiness can be surprisingly easy and can be done by answering six simple questions (we’ve made these questions available in an online tool, the Brand Ready Reckoner).

Start by describing your brand in five words or less. 

Difficult? Probably. But doing so is essential, because it will help you (and staff members) crystallise what it is about your business that stands out or that you do exceptionally well.  

Now, that doesn’t have to be unique – the days of the ‘unique selling proposition’ (USP) are numbered – but it does have to be distinctive and exceptionally good, and it has to matter. 

What are the perceptions – and they will vary – of that value you add, from the managing partner to your clients? A range of outcomes from this question provides the raw material to start refining the brand to its essence.

Note that it’s a good idea to avoid buzzwords – like ‘Kiwi’, ‘professional’, ‘innovative’, ‘passionate’, ‘approachable’ – in describing your brand, because these are routinely empty and say little about the value your business adds. Instead, put yourself in the position of clients and imagine what they see as the things that are distinctive and important about you.  

Identity and purpose

One of the most useful questions you can ask or remind yourself of, is why do we do what we do? 

Having this clear sense of identity and purpose is essential. Why? Because it makes it easier to build your capabilities and focus your resources into what matters. It also makes it easier to live it every day, to put your culture to work in shaping the instinctive beliefs and feelings your clients have about you.  

And the stronger those instinctive beliefs and feelings, their ‘gut feel’, the more likely it is you will enjoy premiums and higher margins! Coke knows that. So does Nike. And Google. 

So ask yourself, just how much do we have to cut margins to win the deal?  

This is a pretty quick barometer of how strong or weak your brand is.

Consider, too, whether all your assets, capabilities, and culture are aligned to deliver on your brand. Are you translating the strategic into the everyday? Using all your touch points to tell the world about your company. Website, business collateral, environment, signage, culture, people, and client experience – are these aligned? Do they say the same things, or is it all a bit random?

Building a brand is all about closing the gap between strategy and execution, and standing for something distinctive in your clients’ minds.  It is the difference between enjoying good or exceptional returns on investment.  So, ask yourself – are you brand ready? Are you committed to a distinctive identity? Do you translate it effectively into the everyday? If you’re keen to give it a go, carve out two minutes from your day and take the survey at
http://dowdesign.co.nz/survey/