Competing with established brands takes time, hard work and patience. Startup businesses shouldn’t concentrate on trying to dethrone large companies but rather make a firm foothold with a dedicated customer base. To do this, a fail-proof branding strategy is needed.
So what exactly does branding do? Aside from building image, it tells customers what they can expect from the business in terms of quality, usability and innovation. For example, a company plans to market handmade soaps. The cosmetic market is already filled with soaps of all kinds, some manufactured and others handmade. What is the company doing to separate itself? If the difference lies in using 20 percent of the profits towards helping other up and coming ventures, it could use that aim to market itself.
Key elements of branding
What sets a company apart? A good branding strategy starts with deciding on the aims and objectives of the company, i.e., what sets it apart. Quality, innovation and excellent aftermarket services are three elements that every startup, no matter how small, must try to deliver to target customers. Logos, brand messaging, taglines and templates revolve around them.
Reality over aspiration. Having high goals is fine but if they can’t be met, customers will associate a company with flights of fancy. Clients want realistic goals, not something that can’t be delivered for the next 10 years.
Create a memorable logo. All big companies are recognizable through their logos. A bitten apple and a swish immediately bring to mind businesses that have set themselves apart from their competitors. Logos and company names tend to go hand-in-hand but it’s not a rigid rule. What matters is that they’re able to summarize what the company stands for.
Brand messaging. This will pick out the company from the list of similar businesses. It’s the voice that speaks its objectives, how it plans to cater to customers and its future aims. There’s no way a company can satisfy all demographics or be useful to everyone so trying to do so will send a muddled message.
Tagline. The tagline goes along with the logo and also summarizes what the company is trying to deliver. For example, the slogan ‘go green’ has taken on the proportions of a trend with companies using it as part of their company name, environmentalists using it to encourage the world to opt for eco-friendly products and so on. There’s power in a tagline so penning one that sums up objectives, matters.
Templates. Templates include design, color schemes and graphics. They should be consistent so customers equate a company with them. Fancy designs don’t tend to go over well because they’re too much on the senses. Clean lines, a combination of one to three colors and easy to remember graphics will identify a brand.
Advertising wisely. Ad campaigns are expensive and advertising where unnecessary is a waste of time and resources. Customers will also be left confused. For instance, a clothing company advertises itself on the back of a restaurant menu. There’s no connection so even if diners spot the ad, they’ll dismiss it because they’re unable to connect the two.
Consistency. This is the hallmark of a successful company. All too often, businesses start out delivering quality products only to replace them with less than satisfactory goods over time. So despite having made a name for themselves, they eventually fade into oblivion.