Reilly Newman | We all know brand negligence can harm a business significantly. This type of harm isn’t alone. There are many ways to stunt the growth of your brand (and business). Here are the most common mistakes:
Logo Repetition:
“Branding” is a term that many are unsure of its actual meaning. This is unfortunately sometimes translating into plastering your logo on every inch of free space and making it as large as possible. No, having your logo repeated isn’t branding and this will not grow your brand. It only adds to the white noise the rest of the marketplace is making.
INSTEAD: Expanding your brand’s identity to go beyond just the logo. Whether that is an appealing color palette, patterns, or interesting textures and applications. A brand isn’t constrained by a logo, but can be much more. This is why you know who I’m talking about when I say “green straw.”
Bland Brand:
Looking the part as a brand is one thing, but going beyond that is where many businesses fail. Getting a logo and calling it a day for your branding simply won’t cut it. The next layer is integrating this brand through your business. The main portion that is forgotten is your business’ copywriting. “Brand messaging” is how your brand can show the personality and tone it worked so hard to establish during that strategy session you should have done. Just as a brand can look right or wrong, a brand can sound right or wrong as well.
INSTEAD: Through your brand messaging, you can breathe life into your brand and empower it to grow beyond just visuals. This enables your business to be more unique and memorable by standing out and connecting emotionally with your audience.
Separate Business and Brand:
Keeping these two components separate can be the demise of both. In most cases it will create awkward engagements with the audience where it feels like the business and brand are talking in different languages. The brand will be signaling one personality while the business isn’t reinforcing that in its operations, pricing, invoicing, support, etc.
INSTEAD: Brand and business should be a tandem effort. Just as a brand could signal an economical or premium experience, the business must reflect that in everything how the staff is trained to the type of seating, accommodations or even their pricing models. This may seem obvious, but many fail to follow through and align the two.
Coasting Into The Abyss:
Businesses sometimes have the notion that because “business is good” or just the fact that they are busy it makes any focus on brand pointless. A bit of the mindset we see is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — this couldn’t more wrong. Simply because business is fine this month or quarter doesn’t mean business will be great in the future, this can be due to shifts in the market, market contractions, new competition, new technology, etc. Your brand is a safeguard and competitive edge that helps protect your business from these types of inevitable fluctuations.
INSTEAD: By switching to a longterm mindset and not being focused on the present (therefore past) state of your business, your brand will flourish and so will your business. You be in a proactive and offensive position for your business allowing it to reach its full potential while protecting it from future changes and ensuring your survival.
