Branding is the Foundation to Your Success

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tue, 2/15/2011

Whether it is your company brand or your personal brand, the weight of your identity is integral to your success. Do you know your target market? Is your identity and brand clear to your target market?

Developing the brand is not an overnight sensation. It needs to be worked on continuously, and with passion. The brand is not just accomplished through marketing and advertising. It comes by living up to the values and purpose you project. This can be accomplished through articles, public appearances, products developed, conversations and several other interactions along the way. You and your company are always being watched. The thing is, you don’t know by whom, or when, so you need to be positioning all the time.

If you are developing a brand for the first time, it is best to study other brands in your industry and learn from their successes and failures. Using outside research and a team for brainstorming, start thinking about what fits the vision you have for yourself and/or your new business.

Often, once a brand is developed, a company will then start developing brand extensions. Is the new product or service in line from an identity perspective with the original brand? Or is it another vision deserving an identity of its own?

Once the identity is developed, branding begins and slowly builds. Consistency is the key to the on-going growth of the brand. If your brand is established as one entity and the product or service doesn’t match, you are damaging the brand and ultimately the growth of the company’s worth.

What are your challenges when it comes to branding and identity? I look forward to hearing your comments.

Until next time …