Whether you are representing a company, a product or acting in your own professional right, you have to take great care of your brand. In future blogs I’ll be talking about your personal brand, as it’s incredibly important at all stages of your career, but for this blog I’m going to concentrate on your business brand.

What is a brand?

Your brand is made up of all the elements of your business. 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. Every time you make contact with your customers and the public you are providing a brand experience and you want to ensure this experience is positive. Your brand provides a promise and you want to make sure you can deliver on this promise throughout the life of your products and services. Your customers have the right to vote with their feet, or their fingers. You have to ensure when making a purchase, potential customers elect your brand, and don’t instead give you the ‘two-fingered brand salute’.

Why is your brand your most important asset?

Don’t get me wrong, your people are incredibly important, as are your financials and products and service offer. Importantly though, while your employees move on and your products and services may change, your brand stays with you and remains the beacon of your business. As things change in your business, your brand is likely to need a bit of a refresh but that doesn’t mean you lose all the goodwill and effort you’ve put in over the years. A brand refresh can be just what you need to keep your business current and competitive.

What makes a brand great?

Great brands often evoke memories. I feel there is something magical about purchasing a new Apple product. For starters the brand is so clean. You just want to take a bite out of that logo, although someone already beat you to it. The advertising is sharp, clear and beautiful. They are not selling products but more a lifestyle concept. People line for hours to buy new product releases and then when you hit the end of the queue you happily part with thousands of dollars to receive a stunning looking package. Opening that beautiful white box feels better than Christmas morning. Yes, all that packaging is not so good for the environment, but good God it looks great and as you remove your new toy, you just know it’s going to change your life for the better.

When I think of Nike, I think of mostly positive experiences. Many of the places I’ve traveled to and the cities I’ve explored have happened while wearing my Nike shoes. But I do also have negative connections with the brand. I still remember the reports of alleged sweat shops in third world countries where Nike turned off their collective conscience and ignored the contemptible abuse of young people to make clothing and shoes for insanely low wages. Nike has made significant attempts to clean up their image over many years, but I still remember this blight on the brand. I still buy them if their shoes provide the best fit, however this is because I am confident they are far more responsible, and I suspect they weren’t the only company to have outsourced to sweatshops.

Millennials love Nike. In a survey conducted a few years ago, they named Nike as their favourite brand, beating out Apple which came in at number two and other top brands like Google, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Millennials wouldn’t remember the sweatshop accusations, and their brand experience has probably been positive from the get go, but older customers would likely remember the furore and without doubt it would have affected the way they feel about the brand.

That’s the thing about a brand; your customers tend to have long memories and it’s usually the negative experience they’ll remember. All of your good brand building can be undone by one transaction and that’s why it is so important to continually put time into your brand. Your brand is with you for life, and short of rebranding your business, it’s difficult to get rid of the stink of a bad brand.

Industry impact on your brand

While evidence is still being heard in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, there has already been a pretty significant fallout for the sector. Damning accounts of everyday Australians who have been misled and the alleged shoddy practices undertaken by different companies resulting in bankruptcies and repossessions have not helped them to win back public admiration.

Let’s face it though, no one really loves a bank. Try as they might to convince us that they are on our side and care about their customers, I find it difficult to put one bank significantly ahead of the others. A few brands separate themselves with their community programs, rescue helicopters and the like, but mostly they offer pretty much the same thing in my opinion and the more cynical among us see their community work as a tax write off. I see them as a necessary evil so it’s not surprising the industry has been ripe for disruption.

Purchasing a brand

In certain sectors, customers purchase a brand, not a product. When a parent asks their kids if they want to go to McDonalds, they’re not asking them the specific meal they want for lunch or dinner, they are asking them if they want the McDonalds’ experience; that is fast, familiar food (no need to mention nutrition concerns here). Some people feel the same way about their electronic equipment and particularly mobile phones.

Samsung were very successful at increasing their market share in the Australian mobile phone market, until their problems with phones catching on fire, but many Apple customers remain loyal to their brand. For products that require an update every few years, brand loyalty is a high priority. Once you have them hooked, you need to keep them on the line, because it costs so much more to reel in a new customer than one who’s existing.

Building a robust brand

In order to weather the inevitable difficulties your business encounters, it’s important to have a brand strategy in place. You have to determine what your brand stands for (your brand values) and then have every person in your business live those values as they operate within your business. I would recommend you ask a professional to be involved in this exercise of determining your brand values because you need expertise and an objective voice. In future posts I’m going to look more into how to build a robust brand as it’s critical for every business.

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