Promoting Your Brand
The following are some tips to consider when creating and promoting your brand. Remember, you will be tying your brand into any promotions you run, in essence your brand will be the image clients see.
Number One: Be Distinctive
You want to stand out from your competitors brands. Choose something that is different and distinctive and you will get more attention from customers if your image contrasts to your competitors'.
Number Two: Repetition
By using your logo, slogans, themes, colours and other elements that represent you to your market repetitively you will have greater payoff. By getting your image out there to be viewed by many people on many occasions you can achieve a better result than if you spent all your budget on a single event. Starting with things like business cards, letterhead and envelopes printed with your image, then combining these with promotional products you can reach your audience multiple times and keep your image in their minds.
Seeing an image or hearing a radio ad only once will not lead to your image being remembered. In the long run it is by repeat viewing that an image is remembered. Seeing your image daily on notepads, pens or fridge magnets make a greater impact in the long run. You keep your image in their minds and the next time they need your product your logo or slogan will be recalled.
Number Three: Consistency
By consistently using the same logo, slogan, symbol or image you can achieve greater recognition from customers. Businesses who have more than one logo often find that the multiple brands confuse consumers or clients.
Number Four: Persistence
Often a company may be tempted to change their image because they are tired of the current logo. Never change your companies image "just because". The time, energy and money that you have implemented to create and gain recognition of you logo would be wasted. If your brand is working, don't replace it.
Number Five: Don't water it down
Don't try to stretch your brand to cover new unrelated products. If you are extending your company, or purchase an unrelated company you should not try to bring the new product under your brand. If you are a builder and purchase an ice cream factory you would keep the ice cream company's brand, not water your brand down by adding a completely different product to the mix.
Number Six: Give your logo away
You will benefit more by having your brand encountered often by consumers. People like the familiar, so the more they see your brand the more likely they will be to choose it. Inexpensive promotional merchandise can lead to more profits in the long run. There are a large number of these items available, pens and fridge magnets to caps and desk items.
Some companies use more expensive, premium items as incentives for customers who are loyal or purchase large amounts from them. Examples include brand name watches, gold pens, or jackets. While these items can be more expensive they also reward customers. Merchandise from some companies has become very popular. Companies like Harley-Davidson and BMW generate a great deal of revenue just through merchandise sales, because they are well know brands. While not every company can do this, by keeping your promotional merchandise fresh and interesting you can certainly generate interest from customers.
Number Seven: Word of Mouth made Easy
Word of mouth can be an inexpensive way to generate a larger client base for your
promotional products. Simple ideas include:
*Placing extra business cards in letters to your existing clients so they can spread the word
*Providing discounts or incentives to customers who refer customers to you
*Handing out promotional magnets to clients so they can share them
While these ideas a relatively inexpensive they can result in friends, family, and colleagues of customers seeking you out.
Number Eight: Be prepared to Evolve
While it is important not to change the brand when it is working, it is even more vital to recognise when the brand is no longer working. If the brand is perceived to no longer be accurately representing the company then it is important to update your image, or you risk being left behind by competitors.
Number Nine: Creativity
"Everyone does it that way"... Don't fall into the trap of following everyone else's examples. It is important to be differentiated from your competitors and the be seen as enterprising and creative. While you don't want to stray from the industry you are in, you can position yourself in a way to be seen as an industry innovator.
Number Ten: Seek Legal Protections
You have invested a lot of time, energy and money into the development of your brand. Registering a trademark gives you some legal protection for your brand.
Number Eleven: Talk to us!!!
We can help when it comes to promoting your brand. Call or email one of our consultants and we can assist in assessing the best way to promote your brand.
