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Article Title:
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The Layers of Your Brand and How Your Brand Helps Your Business
Article Description:
====================
Branding is a hot topic in marketing these days, but it's
defined
in different ways and looked at from different angles. There are
many components that make up a brand, and we call each component
a Brand Layer. Here are our definitions of some of the most
important Brand Layers:
Additional Article Information:
===============================
1033 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-06-15 12:00:00
Written By: Erin Ferree
Copyright: 2006, All Rights Reserved
Contact Email: mailto:elf@elf-design.com
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The Layers of Your Brand and How Your Brand Helps Your Business
Copyright � 2006 elf design, All Rights Reserved
Written by: Erin Ferree
Elf Design
http://www.elf-design.com/
Branding is a hot topic in marketing these days, but it's
defined in different ways and looked at from different angles.
There are many components that make up a brand, and we call each
component a Brand Layer.
Here are our definitions of some of the most important Brand
Layers:
Brand Foundation
The base from which all brand elements will be created and
measured against for accuracy. This layer consists of the
following elements:
1. Brand Vision is your company's plan for itself-how your
company wants to appear to the world, and how your company wants
to grow and change in coming years.
2. Brand Mission is what your company wants to create in the
world, through its products or services.
3. Brand Values are those ideas that your company brand stands
for and that you believe in-and also what you don't want to and
won't do. These values help your potential clients to decide
whether you can help them, and they also help you decide who you
will help and what you can't offer or deliver. Brand Values are
largely an internal measure against which you can process
incoming jobs, but they will also be communicated through all of
your marketing materials.
Brand Basics
These components of your brand form your business's "face" to
the public. Brand Basics shape and direct your customers' views
of your business. Telling your customers how you want to be
perceived is an essential piece of a Brand Strategy for any small
business, and the easiest way for you to do this as a small
business owner is through your:
1. Brand Identity, the suite of visual elements that are used
consistently in your marketing, including:
* Brand Names of your company and product or service lines
* Logo
* Visual Vocabulary
* Collateral system/stationery set (business card, letterhead,
envelope, and so on)
* Marketing materials (brochure, postcard, flyer, and so on)
* Website
2. Brand Content, the way you write and talk about your brand,
including your:
* Marketing Copy
* Tagline
* 30-second Pitch or Elevator Speech
3. Brand Marketing that integrates both visuals and text about
your brand, and that gets your message out to your audience. This
is made up of your:
* Advertising
* Trade shows
* Public Relations
* All other outreach/marketing programs
4. Brand Offerings, the products or services that you present,
along with the quality, warranties, and value that you include
with your products and services.
5. Brand Experience, the process of working with you as seen from
the clients' perspective. But in order to create a positive
experience, you have to have a strong foundation of systems,
procedures, and processes built in to your business-this is a
basic level of professionalism that's expected of every
business. Things that factor in here include:
* Returning calls
* Availability
* Turnaround time
* Professional interaction and communication
* Process
These Brand Basics can also help to shape your Brand Personality,
which is the persona that your business projects to the world.
This is defined through the way that your brand expresses
itself-the characteristics that give your business a life of its
own, outside of your own personality.
Competitor Comparison
These components of your brand speak about your business's
relation to the competition:
1. Brand Positioning is basically how your brand compares with
that of the competition. There are probably many businesses that
provide the services or products that you provide: Brand
Positioning determines where your business falls in the continuum
of businesses in your field.
2. Brand Differentiation is another, more specific piece of your
Brand Positioning. Your Differentiators are those things that
make your business stand out from your competition-the things
that you do or offer that are unlike anything your competition
offers.
You can control these Competitor Comparison factors through
careful market research, market monitoring, and your definition
of both your Brand Positioning and Brand Differentiation.
Internal Measures
These components of your brand are defined largely through your
business's actions:
1. Brand Environment is the atmosphere at and within your
company.
2. Brand Promise is the underlying guarantee or benefits that you
offer as part of all of your services. These promises can be of
quality, service, greatness, affordability, or speed of delivery;
regardless, every business presents a Brand Promise to the
public, promising what the experience of doing business with them
will be like or what benefits the consumer/client will get from
doing business with that company. While your Brand Promise is
often initially shaped by promises made in your external
communications, it must be fully realized through the internal
execution of your services.
3. Brand Values, which are an important part of your Brand
Foundation, are also helpful in deciding
External Measures
These components of your brand are defined by the public's
perception:
1. Brand Awareness is the level of public awareness of your
brand-who knows who you are and what you do. This is influenced
by the strength and effective distribution of your Brand Basics,
as well as by word-of-mouth.
2. Brand Gap is the difference between your Brand Positioning and
Differentiation and how your consumers and clients actually view
these things.
So, What Is A Brand?
Your brand is really the combination of all of the above Brand
Layers. A brand is both your presentation and public's
perception of your business. It's the way that people think
about your business, and it is shaped through all of the layers
described above.
Once you've established your brand and started putting your
Brand Basics before the public eye, there are some other branding
issues you should consider:
1. Brand Alignment is the biggest challenge in building a brand
comes from creating alignment across all of the Brand Layers
described above, and in creating that same alignment between your
audience and your message: making sure that the message that
you're presenting is the same message that your customers and
contacts are walking away with.
2. Brand Management is the process of managing all of the Brand
Layers and achieving or maintaining Brand Alignment. It is a
constant process; you should check up on your Brand Layers and
Brand Alignment from time to time.
When all of the Brand Layers are working together, you'll have a
strong Brand that will help your business to grow and prosper.
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Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a
brand identity and marketing design strategist who creates big
visibility for small businesses. Erin helps her clients discover
their brand differentiators, then designs logos, business cards,
and other collateral materials and websites to reflect that
differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and
memorability. To learn more about defining your difference, check
out our eBook, Stand Out, at http://www.stand-out-branding.com .
For more information about elf design, please visit: Logo design
at http://www.elf-design.com
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