Business Ideas

Brand Components

Nike, Apple, Coke. Each company is instantly recognizable, all because of one thing: their brand. These large companies, and others like them, have spent uncountable dollars to make this happen. But powerful brand recognition isn’t something reserved for mega-corporations, and in many ways is more important for the small business looking to make its mark. A company like Coke can expect a certain amount of sales based on the fact that it is Coke and in many ways is the de facto choice. Small companies on the other hand do not have this luxury.

When a company talks about shaping their brand, what they are really talking about is shaping the perception of their company in the eyes of the consumer. They do this in a variety of ways:

Brand Name Logo Design Slogan Brand Promises

Each of these elements (and many others) help contribute to the consumer perception that makes up a brand. In future articles I will go through each element in depth and give some concrete advice on how to use each one to enhance a companies brand. But for now I am just going to oultine each one and take a brief look at how the contribute to a companies brand.

Brand Name

This can be either the name of a company or a product line. Companies spend alot of time and money figuring out the perfect name for a new product line. I myself have spent countless hours in front of the computer searching through the dictionary, the thesaurus and google trying to find the perfect name for a new project I am working on. A good name can set your company apart and help shape your company’s image in the consumers mind.

Logo Design

Many time a company’s logo design goes hand in hand with their brand name. Most copanies include their brand name in the logo, this helps to keep the brand focused and in site at all times. From typeface to colour each part of the logo helps to focus the brand image and solidify it in the consumers mind.

Slogan

Not all companies opt to include a slogan as part of their branding efforts, but many do and it can have a very positive impact on creating a brand. A good slogan helps to solidify the message that the brand is pushing. While the name and logo paint a subconscious picture of what a company is doing, a slogan puts it right out in the open for all to see. Slogans can be so powerful, in fact, that at times they can replace the name/logo as the most recognizable feature in a company’s brand.

Brand Promises

Brand promises are by far the most ephemeral of the parts of a brand, but can be some of the most powerful tools in the brand toolbox. Many brands have lost market share and fallen by the wayside simply because they couldn’t deliver on the brand promise they made. Brand promises are almost always left unsaid, though at times they may be part of the slogan, but the promise is always there in the back of the consumers mind. And when a company delivers on their promises a customer remembers, and is likely to come back for more

So what does this mean for the small business owner? While small businesses do not have the same resources that a larger corporation does to hone and perfect a brand through countless trials and focus groups, they do have the abitlity to find a brand identity and shape it through their own efforts. In many ways their brand can be stronger because of a tighter focus and the ability to control its development more completely. With good research, some smart spending, and mostly a lot of time and hard work, the small business owner can develop powerful and focused brand identity that can help their business grow.

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Have you ever felt that the people you are marketing to don’t “get you” or understand you?

Or, maybe you know you’re not communicating the “right” message to your target audience, but you’re not sure how to change your message, or what it should be.

The problem in both above instances could be your’re not harnessing and using the power of ancient archetypes in your personal branding strategy.

To help explain the concept of ancient archetypes…

Have you ever noticed certain brands, advertisements, movies, or celebrity personalities seem to instantly connect with you? Without you even realizing it, these brands are communciating a story and meaning to your soul it is already deeply familiar with.

Research in the marketing field indicates that the most powerful brands consistently embody the persona of ancient archetypes. Which ancient archetype you embody is the first thing you must do before you begin developing a personal brand identity.

So, what is an ancient archetype?

Archetypes are believed to be universal, mythical characters that live within the collective unconscious of people all over the world. By symbolizing our core human desires, archetypes can evoke strong, deep emotions that everyone can connect to, and understand.

Examples of powerful brands that stir our emotions are Coke, Nike, Marlboro; movies such as Star Wars, and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial; and personalities like Jackie O., John Wayne, and Lady Di. These “brands” have captured and held the imagination of the public. Why? Because they represent something soulfully and deeply familiar to us.

The twelve ancient archetypes are the:

1. Creator

2. Caregiver

3. Ruler

4. Jester

5. Regular Guy/Gal

6. Lover

7. Hero

8. Outlaw

9. Magician

10. Innocent

11. Explorer

12. Sage

Each of these archetypes possess powerful identities that signal the fulfillment of basic human desires and emotions, and releases deep emotions and yearnings within us. Scientific research signals the missing link in successful marketing and branding is a lack of understanding of archetypes, and the power they possess.

During the recent development of my own personal branding strategy, I focused on researching and studying the twelve ancient archetypes to determine which one resonated with me most. After my study, I determined the ancient archetype that best describes me is the Ruler. Well-known Ruler brands are Saab, Ralph Lauren, Fortune, and Microsoft.

The Ruler archetype is known as the leader, and desires control; it also seeks to create prosperity and success, and to make order out of chaos. The ruler identity is right for a brand if it is:

- A high status product

- A product to help people get more organized

- A product at the moderate to high price range

Knowing this type of information helps to create a personal branding strategy that is consistent with the attributes and values of the brand, as well as identify the words to use to market the brand.

By using the ancient power of archetypes when branding your business, you will immediately make your marketing easier, and you’ll feel more confident because you’re authentically communicating who you are. This message of individuality and expression is so powerful, your ideal client will intuitively understand you, and be attracted to you.

A branding strategy, using archetypes, allows your audience to dive deep into the heart and soul of who you really are.

Whether you are developing your personal branding strategy for the first time, or rebranding, using ancient archetypes will separate the ordinary brands from you—the extraordinary brand. Use the power of ancient archetype to develop a powerful personal branding strategy to tell your brand’s story.

Copyright 2008, Bonita L. Richter

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Trade shows can be one of the most productive marketing methods driving sales. Therefore, how you use promotional products at trade shows greatly influences how well you increase brand awareness and return on investment from your trade show exhibit. According to Trade show Week’s Quarterly Report of Statistics.

shows held during the third quarter of 2004 generally saw growth in the areas of exhibiting companies and professional attendance. The average show in this report occupied 184,226 net square feet of space with 697 exhibiting companies and 12,077 attendees. With so many companies now attending trade shows, exhibitors have the opportunity to extend their corporate image and make a lasting impression on their target market. So, how do you use promotional products to make an impact at trade shows?

In order to determine the best product for the trade show we must first understand the types of trade shows. In the December, 2004 article titled, Upselling in the Trade-Show Market, in PPB magazine Julia O’Conner, President of Trade Show Training, Inc. lists three types of trade shows. First, B2B Marketing is one type of trade show where buyers and sellers get together to discuss problems, explore solutions and advance the sales process. Next, B2B Sales shows are retail oriented shows. The buyer is the direct retailer or involved in the distribution chain. Finally, a B2C show caters to the end user of a product or service. For example, fairs, shows and events that are open to the general public are B2C shows. Once you determine the type of trade show you plan to exhibit at you can then strategize to choose the proper promotional product for the event.

The first step in the strategy is to determine how to differentiate yourself from the competition. You have the opportunity to see over 12,000 potential customers; so, creativity and innovation are essential when choosing promotional products. Choose products that have lasting impressions with your potential customers. Heavy items are not suitable to carry around at trade shows. Items that can be used in the office tend to keep your company name and logo in front of the potential customer during working hours.

The next step is to realize the importance of branding. The promotional products you choose identify your company, product or service. Understanding your target market at the trade show helps you determine the best product for building brand awareness, which is vital to the success of the trade show.

Finally, create a connection between your company’s product or service, the trade show and the promotional product. Understand your target market and determine what types of promotional products would appeal to them. Creating the connection between the trade show, your company’s product or service and the promotional product will help you have a positive impact at the trade show.

Therefore, think about how you will use your promotional products to help build your company’s brand awareness and achieve a better return on investment from the trade show. Understanding the type of trade show you will attend helps you choose the proper promotional product for the event and make the connection between your product or service, the promotional product and the trade show. A trade show can be one of the most beneficial marketing methods and choosing the right promotional products will help maximize the benefits and opportunities of the trade show.

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Generic names and Trade Marks  

In the offline world a generic name is never a good brand name. Such names have limited potential as trade marks even if you manage to register them (which we may manage to do for you in combination with a logo). Nevertheless people choose generic names because the name immediately communicates the type of goods or services the business provides.

Is it any different online? Would brands like  Books4Less and PersonalInjuryLawyer be good ones?

Before answering this question, let us clarify what is meant by ‘generic’ from a branding and trade mark point of view. A generic name is one that describes the product a business is engaged in providing. Whether a name is generic is relative. Examples of generic domain names that have reportedly fetched large sums of money on a resale as domain names are Wines.com and Mortgage.com. Such names are generic as brand names for a wine merchant or mortgage provider respectively. To give a ridiculous example, if the wine merchant used the brand name Mortgage.com, or the mortgage provider used the brand name Wines.com, the names would be distinctive rather than descriptive for trade mark purposes (although as a brand name it would still not be as good as a proper name – a side issue which is outside the scope of this article). 

So, provided a name does not “consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the kind, value, quantity or purpose of goods or services”, it may be trade marked. A distinctive, different and non descriptive name gives you the singularity that is the hallmark of a memorable, trade markable brand name.

In trade mark terms the best names are made-up ones that are suggestive of the product or services to be supplied, but not descriptive of them. If a business can coin a distinctive name – ideally a proper name like Coca Cola, Exxon, Ford, Mercedez Benz, McDonalds, Starbucks, the name will be ideally suited to the purpose of building brand identity around it.

Why not a descriptive name?

The danger in choosing descriptive names is that the business sets itself up for confusion with competitors. Descriptive words are those that competitors may legitimately want to use to describe or advertise their products and services. For example a wine merchant will need to be free to use the word ‘wine merchant’ otherwise it could not engage in its business activity. If the first person to use the word ‘wine merchant’ were able to stop everyone else using the term, then it would give the first comer such a monopoly that they could stop all competition in the marketplace. That is far from what trade marks are designed to achieve.

So, given that you cannot stop competitors using the same descriptive words in their names, choosing a descriptive brand name inevitably means loss of some potential customers because prospective customers who are trying to find you may mistakenly find your competitor instead. Therefore, descriptive names are poor vehicles for capturing goodwill or brand value. You do far better in the long run with a distinctive brand name than with a descriptive one. Once you achieve name recognition trade mark law will prevent competitors free riding on the back of your success by using name that are similar to yours. This is the essence of trade marks – to reduce the likelihood that consumers will mistake other businesses for yours.

Names and brands – online

How does all this translate to the web where there is a tradition of choosing generic brand names? Is a generic name a good choice for an online start up? Well no.

What makes a good brand name offline is no different to what makes a good brand name online. Although people tend to think it is good to opt for generic names – possibly because they confuse the search engine advantages that such names may have with what makes for a good brand name – generic names are in fact a poor choice of online brand name, just as they are a poor choice for offline brands. In the short term they may help you to communicate what your business is all about. For example, if you are called Books4Less, people will immediately know something about your aims. But on the other hand, if you are called Amazon, they will not immediately know that they will get a good price from you. However, once Amazon has proved itself to you, its singular name will be etched in your memory far better than a non distinctive name like Books4Less.

So, why do so many internet businesses choose such bad names? Possibly because when the internet was new, and there were few sites up and running, a common, generic name was an advantage. If you wanted to look for a site selling toys, you typed in “toys.com”. It was like an old fashioned grocery store. Whatever you wanted you looked for by its name. So, a common, descriptive name was the most direct way to communicate what the site was all about. However, the advantages of these descriptive names immediately disappeared once the numbers of websites grew.

Newcomers to the web nevertheless carry on copying what has gone before. They think a descriptive name is the way to go, and adopt such names in the misguided assumption that this is the correct approach. Just because many sites use common names doesn’t mean that a common name is the best strategy for your site. It only means that most internet operators are under group pressure to conform.

Guidelines for choosing online brand names

So, when you are choosing online brand names, try to emulate the successful internet businesses by choosing singular names like Amazon, Yahoo, Dell, Bebo, Facebook and Ebay. These are the businesses that have prospered and entered our collective consciousness, while the numerous generic named businesses that came and went despite enjoying serious venture capital backing have faded into oblivion. All they have left behind are valuable domain names that may have changed hands several times by now, and are principally valuable for search purposes. For example, books.com redirects to Noble & Barnes bringing extra traffic to that site.

Another point to bear in mind when choosing names is that on the internet there are no shop signs or geographic areas to attract passing traffic. With an offline shop called ‘Books’ someone driving past may notice the bookshop for reasons other than its name. For example, the shop may stand out due to its striking window dressing, or by virtue of its location, or simply because it is now there instead of the print shop that used to occupy that space. On the web, people will only find you through your brand name. So, the last thing you need is to get lost among a sea of similar names.

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