Brands and branding have become catchwords for getting attention or impressing people. What exactly do these words signify? Are they really important for a business? If so, how do you build your own brand? These are the issues discussed in this article.What Is a Brand?A brand is more than a logo. It is the complete package of impressions that you have about a business created through your experiences with it. The logo, name, a catchy slogan and the overall layout of its communications are just some elements of the physical dimension of the brand that most people recognize. The physical elements go further to cover such entities the company’s products, plant and sales outlets.The physical is only one dimension of branding. More important is the psychological dimension, which is built up not only from the physical elements mentioned above but also from what you hear about the company and its activities, the experiences you have when dealing with the company and its people and also how well the company’s products meet your expectations.Importance of the Brand to a BusinessA package of good impressions about a company makes people trust that company and its products. The brand distinguishes a company from its competitors and makes its customers feel that they are getting something extra from the company. These translate into brand loyalty that enables the company to charge premium (or at least, higher) prices for its products. Once a customer has become loyal to a particular brand, it is difficult to get that person to switch to another brand.For the owner of a recognized brand, brand loyalty means:
Higher volumes if the product price is kept competitive, or
Higher profits if a premium price strategy is followed, and
Higher return on investment either way.Businesses can also leverage successful brands in different ways.
They can extend the brand to other, related and even unrelated, products.
When the brand achieves a critical mass of loyalty, it becomes a franchise that can be marketed. Think of the range of products associated with Disney characters.
A brand is something competitors cannot take from you. It will survive many events that can destroy an unbranded business, such a technology change. The brand owner can introduce new technology products under the same brand.
If the company is sold, the established brand name can command a price that is many times the value of the business’ tangible assets.How Do You Build Brands?Brand building is a long-term process. Basically, it involves:
Deciding on the distinctive characteristic of a particular product or service that will be emphasized, such as premium quality, low price, service support or something else that is valued by the customer
Creating a physical representation that conveys this distinctiveness through a logo, brand name, slogan and other promotional elements
Creating awareness and even buzz about the brand through different publicity media considered appropriate for the image to be created
Building credibility by delivering on the brand promise (whatever it be), and ensuring that all interactions with the customer support the desired imageCustomers (and others) should get a consistent experience while dealing with the business, an experience that creates the kind of image that you want them to have. This involves:
Ensuring that all your communications through all kinds of media conveys a message that is consistent with the brand image
Training your staff across the whole enterprise about the kind of image they have to project when dealing with customers and the public
Keeping yourself in the news for the right reasons such as your contributions to the environmental cause or to some charitable workA brand consists of the package of impressions about a company in the minds of its customers and the public. A strong brand makes the company’s operations more profitable in different ways. It also creates a value for the company that is far in excess of the value of its physical assets. Brand building is thus a long term investment in the company’s fortunes.

A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.

Branding your online business maximizes your business development efforts without adding work to your day. Once you’ve branded your business, it becomes recognizable and people flock to your business to get what you offer, because HIGH QUALITY matters.1. Describe your product using three words.Exactly what is it you offer your customers? Do you sell soap? Candles? Services? What is it you offer?2. Write those words down.Put those three words on paper. Write them out and vary the lineup a bit. Change them around and look at them in different ways.3. Identify your style.Are you an initials person? Do you shrink Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC? Do you just call it Fried Chicken? How do you identify products?4. Colorize your words.What colors go with your product? What color expresses best, the way you feel about what you do? Is it RED? Does it snap with flavor and zest? Or is it calming and relaxing? Blue?5. Design your signature.Put the colors together with words, and create a logo of sorts. Make your logo a statement about your product.This isn’t a personal objective. If you hate yellow, but it’s the best color to represent your product – go DYNAMIC YELLOW!6. Park that Signature EVERYWHERE.On your domain, in your face, tatoo it on your left butt cheek (okay forget that one), on your checks, on your business cards, on your letter head, everywhere that anyone might look for your product, Park Your Signature on it.7. Impact the Market with your Signature by referring to it often.In business, we call that keyword marketing. Remember your three words at the beginning? Use them in all your marketing endeavors, and keep them out there in the public eye. You want every Tom, Dick, and Harry this side of Antarctica spouting your three words for every reason imaginable.You’ll know you’ve branded your market well, if you hear a teenager on the street spouting those three words in a sentence that includes the word “like”! Like, Brand Your Market, you know?Do you know how to get your Brand Recognized?