The Why of Branding
By: Liz Goodgold
If your first reaction is that branding is only for Coca-Cola, Nike or other big consumer product companies with even bigger budgets, then it’s time to think again. Branding isn’t an iron on your hide. And, it isn’t your logo, Web site, TV commercial or slogan. Rather, it is the sum total of all of these marketing messages—including unintended ones delivered via blogs, e-mail messages and voicemail greetings—that influence the perception of how others see you. Your brand is not what you say it is; it’s how others view you.
Branding can become your secret weapon for bringing in new clients and keeping your current ones. Exploring all aspects of branding can help you grow your business and if you create such an indelible image, you can reap these rewards:
1. Improve awareness. If you build a strong brand, more people will know about you even if they don’t do business with you.
2. Command a premium price. Look at it this way: a Chanel suit is never going to go on sale. If you’re branded well, prospects and customers view your higher costs as reinforcement of your value. It’s your own insurance policy against customers leaving—you provide such an amazing service that clients expect to pay a little more. Harrison Ford boasts the highest number of $1 million-dollar-grossing films in history. Is it any wonder that he can command $20 million per picture?
3. Build loyalty. The most fiercely loyal consumer today remains a cigarette smoker. When was the last time you heard a tried-and-true Marlboro Man say “let me try the Kools just for kicks?” Never. Your goal is to turn your clients into such devotees that they never leave your brand. A recent study indicated that most consumers are “indifferent” to more than 65% of the services they buy. This statistic translates into a whopping opportunity for you! It’s easier to turn an indifferent customer into a customer for life than to steal a customer from a satisfied competitor.
4. Generate word-of-mouth buzz. If you’re generating chatter, you’re generating interest. And, building interest and awareness is the first step toward purchase intent.
5. Increase referrals. Having something to say about a brand allows for easier referrals. Since most of us rely upon the power of referrals, it’s essential to build a strong brand to keep a never-ending supply coming.
6. Increase recognition. If Oprah Winfrey or Donald Trump walked into your office right now, odds are good that you’d recognize them, right? We have transformed into a visual society; almost 96% of all communication today is visual. Therefore, it’s important for others to quickly recognize you whether at a networking event, a trade convention, on the platform or at a business meeting.
7. Increase credibility. Building a strong personal brand creates instant credibility. In essence, every benefit of branding builds upon the other to create exponential rewards: people read about you allowing you to command more for your services; they hear about you from one source and then the buzz begins and the referrals pour in enough noise is generated so that then you’re invited on TV or on radio to discuss your expert opinion. And, the revenue wheel continues to turn.
Liz Goodgold (liz@redfirebranding.com) is a branding expert, author and speaker.
Carrier Branding Connection: Hartford Steam Boiler
The Hartford Steam Boiler doesn’t do a lot of advertising—it doesn’t need to after a142-year history in the insurance market. Yet the company still perpetuates its brand image through its cornerstones—product offerings, customers and independent agents and brokers.
“Our philosophy is that we work very hard on a customer-facing basis, both with our client carriers and our agents and brokers that we distribute product through,” says Loren Shoemaker, senior vice president and chief operation officer at The Hartford Steam Boiler. “It’s our customer-facing rather than putting it in print that does the best for us.”
The Hartford, Conn.-based company, which specializes in equipment breakdown coverage, recently launched a new tagline, “Think ahead,” in partnership with its expanded specialty product offerings and homeowners equipment breakdown protection. Shoemaker credits the success of the new branding effort with the company’s ubiquity in the business and says it’s strengthened by the company’s partnership with Trusted Choice®.
“Hartford Steam Boiler is gifted with a long-standing brand that we use as a pivot to launch other brands,” he says. “Just like the Trusted Choice® brand has evolved in one of their themes as ‘Live the Brand,’ we’ve put a lot of emphasis in people to live the brand and be able to put into words the benefits of doing business with Hartford Steam Boiler. Basically, the way Hartford Steam Boiler does business is parallel to the way Trusted Choice® does business. They bring a choice of multi-line and specialty carriers…that is the same as we do. We establish relationship and we bring them a choice.”
—Michelle Payne
This month’s issue
The March issue is out now!
