Your branding is Jello on the wall. Jello with a nail through it.
You can’t define your brand. You can try.
But it’s not for you to define.
Your company’s brand is the idea about you that exists in the mind of consumers.
Your brand is an idea.
Nothing highlights this reality like the movie Inception. Creating ideas and planting ideas in minds are catalysts for decisions. The movie climaxes around a mission to implant an idea. One of the secrets about implanting an idea is to make it feel like the idea’s host thought of it themselves.
For a moment, take yourself out of the role of a brand builder. Put on your “consumer” suit.
As a consumer, sitting on the couch watching TV while surfing on your smartphone, how do you feel about marketers? How do you feel when you see advertisers scream at you, attempting to coerce you to choose their business? You don’t like it. I know I don’t.
So back to this business of implanting your brand in the minds of consumers.
This is possible. It requires knowing yourself, knowing your audience and some misdirection. But you can do it.
Here are some ways you can help your potential customers think of your brand the way you’d like them to:
- Ask your former and current clients some really detailed questions.
- What was going on when you decided to start looking for the type of solution or product we offer?
- What is the first time you heard about us? What was your very first reaction?
- What emotions did working with us cause you to feel?
- Create a client persona
- Define the beliefs of your potential customers.
- What is the problem they wake up with each day?
- What historical events did they live through? What pieces of culture will they remember fondly (movies, music historical events, etc)?
- Develop your brand archetype
- It’s hard to know how you want customers to view you when you don’t know how you view yourself.
- Define your own brand archetype. Who are you? Who are you not?
- Use this guide from MarketingIdeas101.com for help.
Photo Credit: Steven Depolo