Posts Tagged brand identity platform
What Exactly is Brand Identity and Brand Communications?
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Image, Brand Touchpoints on October 19, 2011
A lot of ad agencies and design firms refer to “brand identity” as the tangible visual elements of a brand — logo, typography, color palette, design style – the tactile look and feel of the brand. While this isn’t entirely incorrect, it is entirely incomplete.
Perhaps a better view of brand identity is this: a strategically-crafted blueprint for how you want your brand to be perceived among your customers, prospects, influencers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders. It includes not only the graphic identity but also many other components as noted below and on this previous Touchpointers blog post.
Components of brand identity
Brand communications is the presentation of this carefully crafted identity to your markeplaces, resulting in the formation of a brand image that drives sales. Brand communications isn’t just advertising, social media marketing, website, public relations, trade shows, etc. It’s also the more subtle ways your brand identity takes root like the professionalism of your delivery and set up personnel, the helpfulness of customer care reps, the ease of navigating your phone system, the clarity of user documentation, and many other types of brand interactions — touchpoints — that can positively or negatively reinforce the formation of your brand image. There’s more to read about brand communications here.
Brand identity is strategic; it takes time and careful consideration to develop a brand identity that differentiates and resonates. Brand communications is tactical; it takes place over time (years), working to create your brand image and drive sales. Many businesses jump into brand communications without first crafting their brand identity, which harkens the old-but-true cliche, “without a map any road will get you there.”
Sure, a great looking logo is cool. But have you crafted a complete brand identity and brand communications program? Today would be the best day to get started.
Brand Communications: Exactly What Is It?
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Messaging, Brand Touchpoints on October 5, 2010
For years I referred to what I did for a living as “Marketing Communications.” That is, communications activities that specifically supported the marketing efforts of a client’s product or service.
But experience has led me to a more evolved perspective. And it’s based on the larger view that ”brand,” or more specifically “Brand Identity,” plays a central role in a company’s ability to sell more of their stuff.
The brand identity is the strategic platform developed to define what the brand stands for, what its value is to customers and prospects, and the decisive differences and advantages over competitive offerings. (Do you have one for each of your brands?) At its core, this should remain constant for the individual products or services that will be marketed under the brand identity.
Now comes the communications part, and there’s two primary areas to consider here: content and contact.
Content is what you say. It’s the messaging that comes directly out of the brand identity. It conveys why the product or service is better, different, of value, etc. The content should be consistently delivered and reinforced in the next part of the equation, contact.
Contact is what you do. It’s the various brand touchpoints — those significant and seemingly insignificant interactions or ways folks engage with the brand. It could be sales pitches, advertising, social media, trade shows, the receptionist, invoices, delivery personnel, community goodwill, sponsorships, public relations, packaging, etc. Each and every contact should be carefully considered, ensuring the desired content is delivered as prescribed in the brand identity.
Collectively, it’s ”Brand-Centric Communications.” But that’s too mind-numbing to say. Let’s just leave it at “Brand Communications.”
What is “A Brand?”
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Image, Brand Touchpoints on September 20, 2010
This question was recently posed to a LinkedIn group to which I belong.
Not surprisingly, the responses were varied and, depending on one’s perspective, correct. If ever there was a loosey-goosey marketing term, “brand” is probably it.
The question got me thinking, and I submit the answer lies in one or more of three key areas, depending on who you’re asking:
- The Brand Identity: this strategic platform is developed by internal company management and answers the questions, “what do we want this brand to be when it grows up, and what are the steps we need to take to ensure it happens?” To these brand stakeholders, this is “A Brand.”
- Delivery of Brand Touchpoints: how the various brand interactions with target audiences (customers, prospects, influencers) are delivered will affect what those audiences actually believe about the brand, regardless of what was planned in the Brand Identity. Delivery of the touchpoints should be in sync with the brand identity platform. To those responsible for delivering these touchpoints, this is “A Brand.”
- Formation of the Brand Image: As target audiences interact with the brand touchpoints, they form an impression about the brand — good or bad — depending on their individual experience with the touchpoint(s). To those creating an opinion as a result of these experiences, this is “A Brand.”
“A Brand” is a both process and a result.
It’s an interesting question to post to an Internet social group, but the more important question is what, specifically, is your brand? What’s your brand identity? How synchronized are the delivery of your brand touchpoints with this identity? What’s your brand image being formed this very minute by your target audiences?
Now, those are good questions to answer, aren’t they?
Your Brand Image
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Image on August 20, 2010
Your brand image. It’s how people view your brand. It’s what they think about it. It’s things like trust, value, quality, features, performance, assurance, status, service, and more. It’s not static, but ideally it’s not constantly changing either. It determines whether prospects become your customers, or move on to the next guy. It holds the key to your success. It’s important.
But do you know what yours is? Are you proactively managing it?
Think about your personal brand image: it’s formed by your family, friends and associates as a direct result of how you conduct yourself in their presence, and by the things they see and hear about you directly and indirectly.
It’s the same for business brands. Customers and prospects will form an impression — an image — about your brand based on their direct and indirect experiences with it. These experiences are your brand touchpoints — individual instances of interactions with your brand that lead to the formation of an image of the brand.
A couple of weeks ago, a local heating & air conditioning company service truck almost ran me off the road. I swore to myself I’d never do business with that company, given the driver’s carelessness which I assumed would carry over into how they serviced my system.
Like many, my image of BP was completly changed as a result of the cavalier attitude of that company’s leadership during the gulf oil disaster.
While BP or the local heating & air company can’t tell me what image I should have about them, they can control how they deliver their brand touchpoints which lead to the formation of a brand image by people like you and me.
How you deliver your brand touchpoints is prescribed as a component of your brand identity – a strategic platform which is created to define how you want your brand to be presented to the world. This includes:
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Vision and values statement where you define your core, unshakable view and values for the brand
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Value proposition where you define the benefits of your brand on multiple levels
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Brand positioning platform where you define how you’re decisively different from your competitors
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Brand messaging where you define the core brand messages you’ll actively reinforce to your audiences
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Brand touchpoint plan where you identify, prioritize, and then proactively manage the various brand interactions so they’re aligned with and reinforce the brand identity
The final step is to maintain a constant pulse on your brand image. Depending on your business this may involve monitoring social media sites and reviews, conducting formal research, utilizing sales personnel to report on the word on the street, and many other tactics.
If you have a handle on how you want your audiences to view your brand compared to what the actual brand image is, and if you have an effective management plan to ensure the delivery of your brand touchpoints are consistently aligned with that desired view, then you’re in tall cotton, my friend.
“Influencing” Brand Touchpoints Are Vital For Your Business, Too.
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Touchpoints on August 18, 2010
I’ve written in the past about pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase brand touchpoints — all those interactions that take place between the customer and your brand before, during, and after the sale.
In the world of brand touchpoints, there’s a special category of equally important interactions, although they’re less direct. Influencing touchpoints are the interactions with your brand that indirectly drive business to or away.
An annual report usually isn’t used as a tool directly in the sales process, but prospects might review this document to gain a sense of stability, progress, leadership, etc. Or not.
Referrals, reviews, testimonials, and other word of mouth and social media interactions are influencing touchpoints. So are your event sponsorships, speaking engagements, community involvement, and goodwill.
Each of these touchpoints — and more — are indirect brand interactions that don’t actively promote your brand messaging, but still serve a vital role in supporting your brand identity and pushing the formation of a brand image. And, in many instances, these interactions are not something that can be effectively controlled or managed.
What you can do, however, is carefully craft your brand identity (which includes identifying the standard by which all of the brand brand touchpoints you identify should be delivered) and then actively manage this brand identity to promote the formation of the desired brand image by your target audiences.
For example, by providing the level of service, product quality, pricing, product features and benefits, warranty service, packaging, etc. that is prescribed within your brand identity platform, you cultivate positive associations that will carry over into your influencing brand touchpoints like consumer reviews, event sponsorships, community involvement, and the others you’ve defined in your touchpoint management list.
You wouldn’t stand up and actively discuss why one should buy your brand during a local United Way fundraiser, but the associations listeners have about your brand will follow you up to the podium.
The prevalence of social media tools widely being used now enables customers to become active brand advocates — for or against – with non-users. Product reviews, user testimonials and recommendations, forums and blogs: each and all have become major elements of the indirect selling process for b-to-c and b-to-b brands.
Each and all are driven by how the brand performs on its other touchpoints.
Identifying, prioritizing, and managing all of your brand touchpoints is simply the best way to stay on top of things, whether you have direct control or not.