Corporate Branding – what comes to mind when you hear or read the word? If you immediately thought about company logos, we can’t blame you. You’re on the right track but branding is so much more than just having a fancy or simple memorable logo. If you’re running a business, you need to know proper branding as it can be the difference between having a successful business and an unfortunate failure. In this article, The Brand Theatre will share everything there is to know about corporate branding – what it is, how it can be helpful, and how to apply what you know to your very own business or image.
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What is a Corporate Brand?
A corporate brand is so much more than your company logo. Your company logo is only the visual identity of your company, something that people can easily see, recognize, and remind them of you or your service. Your corporate brand is who you are, what you do, how you do it, why you do it, and who you do it for. Your corporate brand is your standard, the expectation that you’re supposed to meet and exceed, and the experience that you promise to your customers.
Take McDonald’s for example. Each time you drive along the highway and you see their signature ‘M’ logo, what are the first few things that immediately pop into your mind? Affordable food, tasty burgers, cold sundae, fast food, and kids enjoying their Happy Meals. That’s the beauty of having a strong corporate brand. The beauty of this is the promise that McDonald’s gives us: their food will always have the same taste and affordability whichever McDonald’s you go to. For your company, if you can have a good and strong promise and you’re able to deliver all the time, people will remember that and they’ll keep coming back to you.
That is why having a strong and effective corporate branding strategy is a must for every business as it can easily make or break one. Consider it a strong tool for your business to make sure that everyone working at the company will follow the same standard, values, and vision to carry out what the company has promised the people, just as how The Brand Theatre promises to deliver holistic branding strategies like we always have.
Corporate Branding Process
Now that we’ve discussed the corporate branding and its importance, how can you start developing a strong and impressionable one for your company?
If you haven’t developed a branding strategy just yet, don’t worry, the Brand Theatre is here to help you. It can be a little overwhelming especially if you don’t know where to start. It’s very disheartening to hear some of our clients redo their website, social media pages, and other marketing materials with little to no fix for their initial problem.
Much like every successful strategy, you’re going to need a plan. Here’s one that you can follow if you don’t know where to start:
Examine your existing brand
The first step to fixing any sort of problem is identifying the problem. If you’re just starting and you think that your brand isn’t facing any issue yet besides not being there already, then just determine the current situation or status or your brand. Ask your family or peers for feedback regarding your corporate branding, your logo, performance, website, uniform, and so on. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to change and what you want to stay. If you’re done evaluating your brand, maybe you can evaluate your competition as well.
Determine the Who, What, How, Why, and For Whom
This one is pretty straightforward. If you can hold an open forum or discussion among the leaders of your company, talk about what you want your company to be like. Determine who you are as a company, what it is that you do, how you want to consistently do it, why you do it in the first place, and who do you do it for. Establishing your mission, your vision, and your promise this early in the corporate branding strategy will help you in the long run. If you’re having trouble narrowing it all down, hiring a brand consultant at this stage will benefit you greatly – something that The Brand Theatre will be more than happy to help you with.
Get Everyone On Board
Once the leaders have established the Who, What, How, Why, and For Whom, disseminate this information to the entire company – all of it – include everyone. Once this information has been distributed, it would also help if you gather feedback from your employees. Gauge whether or not they agree with the mission, if they’re in line with the vision, or if they have any problems or concerns regarding the promise that you want to fulfill. Communication is really important when running a business, so make sure you do that frequently. This will ensure that everyone is operating under the same values and standards.
Tips for a Successful Corporate Branding Strategy
1. The CEO of the company should lead the brand strategy work – Brand strategists can help you form an effective strategy that is according to your company’s vision. The CEO must still provide input, approve the strategy, and even hire the brand consultant or strategist in the first place.
2. Customize your corporate branding model to your company’s needs – branding isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ kind of deal.
3 .Make use of new technology – make use of modern technology to easily reach people you wouldn’t have reached otherwise. Utilize it to scale your brand further.
4. Be ready to adapt to change – effective strategies 5 years ago won’t be effective nowadays. Regularly check your strategy and change your approach accordingly with the times or current situation. We understand that this might be a handful, The Brand Theatre will be able to help you with these concerns if the work has become too overwhelming for you to handle.