What’s the value of your Brand?

When managed effectively, branding could be the only competitive advantage you’ll ever need – the reason customers flock to you and willingly pay a premium for your products and services.

But the question remains: How do you achieve a branding edge?

The following seven tips will help build your brand, strengthen its perception, and help you start achieving real benefits.

1.  DETERMINE IF YOUR BRAND MAKES SENSE

First, conduct an internal examination of what your current brand is, how it aligns with your corporate goals, and if it simply makes sense. If you, employees, or executives can’t explain your brand quickly or easily, it may be time to revisit.

2. REINFORCE YOUR BRAND

Do as much as you can to promote your brand – internally and externally – to make sure all constituencies really understand all that it stands for. Frequency is key here.

3. BE CREATIVE AND CONSISTENT

Recently, Chevrolet made headlines for trying to reinforce the brand “Chevrolet” (and not “Chevy”). To do so, they created a fun contest in one of their plants where any employee caught saying “Chevy” had to pay a small fine. As a result, they achieved their brand goal while creating a fun, lighthearted environment.

4. MAKE BRAND OBJECTIVES TANGIBLE AND MEASURABLE

Creating goals that are specific, realistic, and attainable help employees and other stakeholders understand the strategy, but more importantly, think in terms of what they can do to contribute. Saying “we want to be #1” is too vague; saying “We want to be #1 in our particular market in the next three years” is more concrete.

5. THEN, MEASURE THE RESULTS

Just like any effort, branding and brand results need to be measured. Some common brand equity measurement factors include level of brand awareness (internally and externally), level of brand interest, level of preference or loyalty, level of willingness to recommend, and more.

6. KEEP UP WITH THE CONSUMER

Brands are barely keeping up with consumer expectations today. Every day, consumers change their opinion of the latest technology and “must-have products. Smart brands understand where the strongest expectations exist is usually the biggest opportunity for future growth.

7. GET SENIOR LEADERSHIP BUY IN

Many times, the executive team will have a view of what the brand should be and where it should go. Therefore, it’s wise to pull them in as early as possible as representatives of the brand development process. If this is not possible, they should be briefed and given the opportunity for input as early as possible.