If you're selling your product or service – you're selling the wrong thing

Your brand is what your customers will buy.

Picture this. It's Australia Day, and you and your family are getting ready for a picnic in your local park.

Before you head out, you pack the esky with some coke and sausages for the barbie. After you get there, one of your children falls over and scrapes their knee, so you put on a band-aid. When it's time to go, you jump in your jeep and drive home. At home, you need to store the left over snags, so you put them in a dish and cover them with glad wrap. You had a little too much to drink, so you take a panadol and go to bed.

Of course you noticed that instead of referring to these products by their generic terms – cooler, cola drink, sticking plaster, four wheel drive, plastic cling wrap and pain relief medication or headache tablet – we used their brand names – Esky, Coke, Band-Aid, Jeep, Glad Wrap and Panadol.

Genericised trademarks such as these are clear illustrations of how branding, when done properly, can infiltrate the very fabric of our language – and our minds.

Great branding means that while your customers are filtering out the barrage of imagery that comes their way, they will seek out your brand.

In short, branding allows your business to differentiate itself from its competitors, and most importantly, enables it to create an emotional connection with your customers, generating brand loyalty.

What is branding?

Every day the marketplace gets more crowded. Advances in manufacturing, distribution and communications have resulted in an ever-growing sea of choices.

With each new product comes a wave of marketing and advertising materials. It is becoming harder and harder for companies to differentiate their product, otherwise known as “product convergence.”

Each product is similar to the next. The key to success is to market your brand, not your product. These days, almost everything is becoming branded.

There are products where consumer purchases have always been driven by brand: Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Holden. However, this once very narrow approach to branding is being rapidly expanded to everyday products and services – even those as mundane as hardware. No-one goes to the hardware store any more – they visit Bunnings.

Commodities that we purchased indiscriminately, such as toilet paper and breakfast cereals, are now brand choices. We shop selectively to purchase household name brands such as Kleenex and Special K. The list grows every day.

Companies have realised that a strong brand name is the best opportunity for rapid growth. The most important thing to note is that branding isn't just for big business.

Consumers seek out brands for every service they use from car washes to solicitors, personal trainers to real estate agents, so it's imperative your business has a clear, defined brand that speaks to your customers  –  and that your brand voice can be heard well above that of your competitors.

When is the right time to “brand” your business?

Right now! While most consumers are brand conscious, many companies spend their ad dollars selling “product” not brand. They focus on things like price and quality – an overused ad concept.

We can learn from how the megabrands market. McDonald’s does not sell hamburgers; McDonald’s sells “McDonald’s”. Bunnings does not sell hardware; Bunnings sells “Bunnings”.

Any two-year old can spot the golden arches from a mile away. At Bunnings, they even have the employees branded by their uniforms. They are trained to be the Bunnings brand.

So I need to brand. How?

Don’t confuse branding with advertising. Advertising is how you call attention to a brand. Branding is how you make an impression in the minds of your customer.

Typically, a branding campaign consists of three elements:

1. Brand Image

This is the perception that already exists in your customers' minds. It's a combination of recognition, experiences and promises.

You can find out a lot about your brand through simple research. Ask, who are my clients? What is the one thing for which I am known?

The Advertising Man himself, David Ogilvy, defined a brand as: “The intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised.”

2. Brand Positioning

If you are known for everything, you are known for nothing. Don’t try to be all things to all people.

It is irrefutable that the fastest growing companies today are the ones with a narrow focus. You must have a razor sharp position in the marketplace.

Every brand should come with a promise. What does your brand stand for? As you position your brand, it will pay off in several ways.

The most important is that your name will begin to be associated with your specialty. In addition, your advertising will become better focussed, as you will know exactly who to target.

3. Brand Identity

Brand Identity is the outward expression of the brand, including its name and visual appearance which ensures consumer recognition and individuality. It is every visual expression of the brand, be it in print, television or the sign on the fascia of your building.

A brand identity typically includes a name, logo design, and other visual elements such as images or symbols.

One of the fastest ways to build brand identity is through the careful application of graphic design.

First, the graphics must reflect the company’s positioning strategy. Second, the graphics must be appropriate to the targeted customer.

Lastly, the graphics must be consistent. The key to marketing a brand image is the consistent use in all markets. This includes the packaging, the colours, and the product’s total image.

Does this mean that every marketing piece has to be exactly the same? No, quite the contrary. In fact, it is just as important that the graphics stay fresh and consistent with the market. This is especially important when the market is a young audience.

The typical 'shelf life' of a brand these days is around three years. Clever brand reinvention is the key to brand longevity.

For proof of this, you only need to look at one of the world's most enduring brands, Coca-Cola. Through careful brand management, Coca-Cola’s look today is as fresh as it ever was.

A well-designed branding campaign will establish consistent branding elements, while leaving room for flexibility.