What does it take for a brand to be successful? Are there secret ingredients needed to create a desirable brand? Do you know what helps propel the most valuable brands in the world to soar?
Big brands such as Apple, Coca-Cola, or Disney all did something along the way that helped elevate them to where they are now. These behemoths in their respective industries have nurtured their brands and are now reaping the rewards of their past efforts.
If you want your company to share the limelight with these giants, then you should highly consider getting a top brand consulting agency to help you.
From the Ground Up
Obviously, these companies didn’t become household names overnight. It took years of careful planning and preparation to arrive at where they are now. If you are building your brand or want to relaunch a company, then you should read on and take heed.
Whether you are a quaint neighborhood bookstore, a courier services company in Dubai, or a top hotel in Abu Dhabi, you can learn a thing or two from the experience and expertise of branding consultants.
You really cannot afford to waste time, energy, and resources experimenting on what works and what does not. Ideally, it is best to cut to the chase and seek the services of brand specialists who can help you get your brand get off the ground and on to where you want it to.
With the help of branding experts, you can have a clearer picture of what you need to do. You can rely on peak efficiency, research-led accuracy, and sharp insights to help you gear up for business and achieve positive results.
There are key elements that you should consider when you want to elevate your business. Here are some of the vital requirements that you should keep in mind when you want to boost your brand:
1. Clarity
First and foremost, you need to be clear about what you want for your brand. Where do you play? Who do you compete with? How to win? but most importantly, What is your purpose?
You need to conduct an internal audit to gain a deeper understanding of your brand. Who you are and whom you want to be are two different things. You will need experts to guide you towards discerning your point of differentiation. Your brand cannot just be like any other brand out there. You need to be clear on what makes you stand out from a sea of competitors.
To gain clarity, you can take advantage of research-based facts and figures. Factual information about the market, industry trends, competitive mapping to be able to help you in designing a sound and differentiated brand strategy. You need a defined plan on how to best highlight your brand and how to best deliver benefits to your end-users.
2. Content
When you have a clear concept of who you are, your brand character, your brand culture, and a distinct point of differentiation, then you can move on to crafting your message.
You need to be able to create content that supports your brand strategy. It should be something that your audience can relate to. It has to strike a chord in them to drive them to do something that will benefit your business. Your content must be compelling enough so that it is guaranteed to hit the nail right on the head.
Your content should also be timely. It need not be trendy, but it has to be something that can feed the current taste and interests of your target audience. It must be well-timed and well-intended so it can resonate well with your chosen crowd.
3. Community
Do not forget your market. Your strategy and content must resonate well with your target market. To do so, you must put time and effort into knowing who they are. Take time to do market research. Scour through the demographics; look into the psychographics.
Your message will only fall on deaf ears if you do not invest in knowing who your audience is. Even more painful is the fact that you will also lose money because of your inability to appreciate the value of getting to know the community of consumers that you are catering to.
You need to know who they are so you can develop insightful content and deploy it through mediums that your consumers favor. Each market is unique, and if you take time to know those nuances, you will know whether to use traditional or digital branding experiences to boost your brand.
4. Continuity
One of the most important tenets of branding is continuity. All your branding efforts must come together in a coherent and consistent manner for these to be effective. These have to be continually drummed into the psyche of your consumers.
Whether it is seen, heard, or felt, your message must be constantly present across all customer touchpoints. To be top of heart and mind, they must know that you are there. This does not mean that you should be annoyingly in-your-face about your execution, however. You also have to be careful about how to properly utilize the right balance in communicating your content.
Your message must be in consonance with your branding and business objectives all throughout the customer journey. You must find a way to be present within your consumer’s sphere of consideration — from the way you present your brand down to the minute details of visual branding.
A Brand That Counts
Textbooks and internet sources about branding abound. You can leaf through the pages of all the branding and marketing books, and websites. And while these will be helpful, you still may find such resources lacking.
What would really help you understand your brand and how to boost it, is to learn from people who are in the field. Pick the brains of brand specialists who work with a wide range of clients in a variety of fields. This way, you can gain valuable insights and use real-world information that can help you in your own brand journey.
AUTHOR BIO
Hasan Fadlallah is a Serial Entrepreneur – Founder & CEO of Brand Lounge, the region’s leading and award-winning branding consultancy, whose role is to help organizations align their business behind an idea that will deliver success time and again. Equipped with over 20 years of professional consulting experience, today he advises businesses throughout the Gulf and Africa on brand development and in 2014 was recognized by the World Brand Congress who awarded him the prestigious Brand Leadership award in Brand Excellence.
