Making a good first impression is important. You can’t always control the way people talk about your brand and your products, however you can control the first impression you provide to your customers. If your brand does not convey the message you want to send, or if you no longer stand apart from your competitors, you are likely going to miss opportunities to attract, convert and retain customers.

What is your brand

We’ve written previously about the importance of your brand and the role it plays in your business success. As we noted, ‘it goes way beyond your name and logo and comprises all elements of your touchpoints; physical and digital presence, including your office, website, communication and representatives.’
Whenever you have contact with customers and the public you are providing a brand experience. You need to ensure that experience is positive and lives up to the promise your brand provided through the entire relationship with your people, products and services.

How do customers view your brand?

Brand recall and recognition are both important marketing metrics as they contribute to your brand awareness and can help sell your products and services. It is also important you stand out in the competitive landscape so you need to remembered differently to your competitors.

Brand recall

If brands can be recalled by potential customers, they are more likely to gravitate toward them when they are ready to purchase. There is a reason advertising includes catchy jingles and slogans because people remember them – even the bad and annoying ones.
‘Down, down, prices are down’, comes to mind; that little piece of annoying genius from Coles. Unfortunately for us, you know it is working for the advertiser if they repeat the ad ad nauseum. And I apologise in advance, because you probably won’t be able to get that jingle out of your head for the rest of the day.

Brand recognition

Recognising your brand whether it is colours or logos is also an important metric for marketers because the higher the recall, the more likely people will trust and value your brand – unless it is associated with negative events.
Most people on the planet recognise the ‘golden arches’ as belonging to McDonalds. Similarly, most people would recognise a pink ribbon as representing breast cancer campaigns and awareness.
Even seeing colour combinations can be recognised as a brand – sporting teams are great at this. In Australia, we certainly recognise and associate the green and gold as representing our country and the red, white and blue are associated with the USA.

Evaluating your brand

But how do customers, staff and the public feel about your brand? Really, the best way is to ask them.

Customer opinion

I talk a lot about the importance of asking customers for feedback on your products and service, but there is also a great reason to ask them about your brand and what it represents. They interact with your brand often and although they are close, they will most certainly have a different opinion to your own. Some won’t care less about your logo, colour palette or tag line, especially if you operate in industries where it is more about your reputation than your visual impact. However, you still need to ensure your stay current, because there will always be competitors knocking at the door.
Think about the spectrum of trades on offer. There are still many of the traditional businesses that come in their dirty and worn clothes and provide a hand-written quote from a stained note pad. But, there is a whole new approach to providing trade services with dedicated quoting teams and shiny brochures and merchandise. This approach will likely leave a better first impression with greater recall because they’ve made a determined effort to better present their brand.
There are industries where brand is quintessential to attracting business. You’re not going to approach a graphic designer who has a horrendous or outdated logo. Their brand represents their work and it can encapsulate their whole approach just through that one piece, so it’s essential it represents who they are and is a great example of what they can do.

Employee opinion

How your employees feel about your brand is crucial to your ongoing success. If they don’t feel your brand looks or feels current, or if they believe your messaging is wrong, it will be difficult for them to project the brand messages you intend. For example, if you make your employees wear clothing they do not like or do not feel comfortable wearing, I can almost guarantee at one time or another they have complained to friends about their reluctance to wear the uniform.
What does that say about your company? How does that reflect on your brand? The world is small and negative comments have a habit of spreading fast, so you need to stay on top of all the key components of your brand including what your employees are wearing and what they are saying about you. Open and honest communication is a good start to fixing this problem.

Public opinion

Depending on your business, opinions of the public may not be of too much concern. The point mentioned above though is relevant. The world is small, and you always want your brand to be represented in the best light, so you need to ensure your communication and touch points remain fresh and on message. Obviously if you are a public company or considering listing, your priorities are different.
Regardless of whether you’re big or small or listed or unlisted, you want your brand to be current and have positive interactions with your stakeholders and the wider community.

Competitive landscape

You also need to evaluate your brand against your competitors. What does their brand say about them compared to your brand promise? Do you look current in comparison?

While I don’t advocate trying to copy what they are doing, it is really important you remain competitive and attractive to your customers. You have to provide a compelling reason for your customers to buy from you and your brand helps sell that story.

Knowing it is time for a brand change

If your brand (logo, name or tagline) does not represent your value proposition and your intention, then it may require a change. This does not necessarily mean you start from scratch. You could just need a brand refresh.

Brand refresh

This is a far smaller project than a rebrand. You may just need to update your tagline or refresh your colour palette or possibly just update your logo. I say ‘just’ update your logo, but anyone who has been through a refresh knows it’s probably not going to be a simple process. Importantly, you want to get your refresh right, so please bring in some professionals to help you through this process, and please consult them before you begin.
Don’t just create a new logo and then ask them to implement a change. You need expert advice. You are the expert in your business, but you are not an expert in branding.

Rebrand

A whole rebrand is a whole lot of work and again you need to involve professionals. It can cost a lot of money to rebrand, because you’re going to have to change all your physical and digital assets, so you need to be doing it for the right reasons. Also, this is not the way to fix faulty products or services. Changing the brand won’t fix the problems and will use money that should be put toward product development, marketing and customer conversion and retention strategies.

Rhonda Locke is a highly experienced marketer, a customer and brand champion and is the Founder and Director of Unlocke Creative.