Elements of Branding
All of the following are critical elements of your brand and form the basis of your personal connection with your customers:
- Your stated reason for being —
focused on the needs and desires of your customer. - Your key message statements —
the things that define you in the eyes of your consumer. - The visual representation of you —
your logo, colors, typefaces, graphic design guidelines, stationery, signage — in other words, the physical look of all of your marketing communications. - Your printed and online communications —
what they say, how they look, where they are seen — everything from your Web site to your print ads and everything in between. - What OTHERS are saying about you —
the press, blogs, customers' family, friends and neighbors. - Your product packaging —
(if you're selling a physical product) - Where your product is sold —
(for example, perception of a brand will differ tremendously between sitting on a shelf at Big Lots! and a display at Nordstrom). - The experience of actually USING your product.
- Any experience your customers have communicating with any of your employees, for any reason, at any time.
In fact, there are many more elements, commonly referred to as touch points, where your customers will have an experience interacting with you. Your customer expects to have a consistent experience at every touch point. Only through consistent experiences can your customer build and maintain trust in who you are and what you offer. That trust is the essential basis for along term relationship!
Two simple illustrations show you all the different touch points you have: the Brand Wheel, and its significant other, the Marketing Wheel.
"The elements of your brand form the basis of your personal connection with your customers."