Branding on a Shoestring

When you think of branding, large companies with big brands, like Nike or Coca-Cola, might come to mind. If you’re a slightly smaller company, your small business needs a brand, too, even if you don’t exactly have the same budget as those huge corporations. However, developing a brand doesn’t require a lot of money or too much time. You just need to incorporate it into your everyday business activities.

If you have a small business, you absolutely must develop a powerful brand if you want to be positioned to compete. When you run a small business, you can’t possibly meet all of your prospective clients. You must devise a strategy so that they come to you because they hear about you through at least one trusted source.

Trusted sources are friends, family and colleagues who recommend you. We tend to “buy” when someone we know also knows and trusts a person. Think of how you hire an attorney or a real estate agent: You ask your friends.

So brand is important in referrals because you must be top of mind, and people must instantly remember what you do and what you’re all about. You want them to look at your agency’s name and instantly know you.

When people don’t have a friend who knows an attorney, they turn to other trusted sources. If you speak at an event, you have instant, third-party credibility. People begin to trust you, in a sense.

Here are some tips that can help you make a name for your agency:

1. Volunteer to speak to non-profit organizations, professional associations, conferences or anyplace where your clients and customers go. If you have an interesting, relevant presentation, people will flock to the podium after your presentation to talk to you.

2. Step up to be on panels at events where you can talk about a hot topic in your area of expertise. There is less pressure on you because you are not the single presenter, but there is still benefit because the organization is marketing your name to its members. You get exposure not only to those who attend, but anyone on the mailing list.

3. Write articles and do media interviews. If you are not comfortable talking to the media, get coaching, prepare your messages and be ready when the media call. Media trainers, PR firms and other experts can help you get media ready.

4. Project a powerful professional style because everywhere you go, you are meeting potential clients and customers. Your wardrobe, grooming, personal style, body language and voice send out loud and clear signals. People often decide based on just a few signals whether you are worth their time. Even the way you walk into a room influences other’s perception of you.

5. Make everything you do high quality and consistent. Your agency’s Web site, brochures and office space send vibes to potential clients. Everything that you touch is part of your brand, so make it first-rate.

Remember, branding doesn’t have to cost a lot, it just takes some thought. Building a brand is about using your head; it’s ingenuity.

Suzanne Bates (info@bates-communications.com) is president of Bates Communications and author of “Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results.”

Carrier Branding Connection: Progressive

One of the Big Four in auto insurance, Progressive’s commercials and radio ads saturate the air
waves in every market, helping to build consumer recognition of massive proportions. And now the company is putting an even larger emphasis on its independent agents in its advertising.

In February, the company announced that it would re-brand its agent distribution channel from Drive to Progressive Commercial, Progressive Motorcycle, Progressive Boat, etc.

“The Progressive brand is a strong consumer brand,” says John Barbagallo, agency group president. “I think one of the issues we’ve struggled with in the past was that a lot of Progressive
brand communications were geared toward a direct-buying process. But we really want to emphasize the benefits of being insured by Progressive as a company—and you’re also
going to see more agent content in those ads.”

When it comes to branding, Barbagallo applies this golden rule to both companies and agencies: You must deliver on your brand promise at every opportunity and at every contact. When
done effectively, the results include increased customer loyalty and customer attention.

“We don’t want to create a brand that we can’t fulfill every day,” he explains. “Today we emphasize a differentiated level of claims service and the importance of that.”

Trusted Choice® is a big part of Progressive’s branding strategy for independent agents. Barbagallo believes that the Trusted Choice® brand, which communicates independent agents’ unique value proposition to consumers, and the Progressive brand are complimentary strategies.

“For Trusted Choice® to be the success we think it can and will be for independent agents, companies have to support it,” he says. “As the leading supplier of personal auto insurance to
independent agents, we have a role to play, and we’re here to do it.”

To that end, Progressive has invested in an Agency Participation Program, which consists of branding and marketing materials available to agencies. Trusted Choice® agencies have
an option to co-brand these materials with the Progressive and Trusted Choice® names.

—Jennifer Sikorski