Nigel Wilkinson
Managing Director of Daneswood. Nigel has been in sales and marketing since the 1980's and run digital marketing agencies since 2000.
There’s lots of talk about Brand these days, company brand, personal brand, staying on brand. But what is the importance of brand for a small business, and what do people mean when they talk about brand?
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, sums it up nicely, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” He goes on to say, “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
What many people think of when you mention branding is the logo, and that’s not really it. The logo is a representation of your brand, it’s what people think of you that counts for your brand, not the logo you create to symbolise yourself!
The important thing, then, is to take control of your brand and create the identity that you want people to think about you.
Now obviously, you can’t force people to think about you in a certain way, but you can be crystal clear on what you and your company’s values are, what is your purpose or mission, who you want to work with and who you don’t – your niche if you prefer. Then be clear on why people should work with you, your Unique Selling Points (USPs).
When you are clear on your values, you build the company to reflect those values, every decision is about living those values. That’s when the magic happens with your brand, and people start to talk about you in the way that reflects your brand the way that you want them to.
Once you are clear on values, purpose, niche and USPs, you may look at your logo and feel it doesn’t reflect the company that you want to become, then you do need a logo refresh. But be sure you are changing it for the right reasons, and remember, your logo reflects your brand, it is not the brand itself.
If you need help on getting clear on your Values, Purpose, USP, and Niche, we have a proven formula for guiding you and your management/leadership team through the process and having an external facilitator asking questions and digging into your assumptions can reveal things you never noticed.
We love talking Brand, so please do get in touch to arrange a session to clarify your brand https://daneswood.co.uk/contact/.