People You Need to Know

Your company image comes down to one thing, your packaging. The way your brand is packaged has the power to influence a potential customer to buy. Packaging refers to your business card, your stationery, website, phone answering system, your email address or anything else related to your business, tangible or intangible.

Is your company conveying the right image? My Spanish professor in college used to tell us, “It’s not who finishes first, it’s who gets the “A”, so before you rush to get that brochure printed, make sure you let someone else look over it for correct spelling, proper use of grammar, photo clarity, and overall design. Branding really boils down to how a product makes a customer feel. The late Walt Disney wrote, “People spend money when and where they feel good.”

Branding your product effectively can also help your company stand out from the crowd. John Williams, the branding and image expert wrote that we must brand, package, and market ourselves so that we are desirable. Today, effective branding isn’t an option, it’s an absolute necessity. Your business will be viewed in a certain manner either by choice or default. We have the power to choose how we’re going to be represented in the marketplace.

After we understand what branding can mean for our organization, we must embrace Personal Branding for our own benefit. Personal Branding is about understanding who you are, what you stand for, what you want to be known for, and what you believe. It is not enough for people to know what you do, you want people to know you for what you do differently. Being another player in your category will not make you known. You want people to perceive you as the best in your category…the only solution to their problem.

What are a few words that sum up your Personal Brand? For me, when I ask myself this question, the words that come to mind are, dependable, loyal, attention to detail, creative, and trustworthy.

Now, let’s briefly explore Branding’s NEW mantra, Emotional Branding. When a customer feels good about a product or service, this is where Emotional Branding comes in and this is the type of branding that gives organizations the competitive edge. Apple Computer users are not typical. They are fiercely loyal, emotionally attached to the Apple brand, and will never think of purchasing a PC.

The same is true for soda drinkers. Most people either drink Pepsi or Coca-Cola, not both. Emotional Branding leads to a heartfelt connection with its customers that cannot be broken by a competing product with a lower price or sometimes even better quality. I read that people are drawn to certain brands because companies are selling potential consumers’ own ideas back to them, they are selling the most powerful ideas that we have in our culture.

Ideas such as transcendence and community–even democracy itself, these are all brand meanings now. Coca Cola has been embracing the benefits of emotional branding for more than three decades. Back in the 1970’s their most successful advertising campaign was “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” which promoted a world community where everyone has a voice. This was Coca-Cola’s most successful ad campaign.

After all is said and done, branding comes down to one word, making your product desirable.