Photo by Michał Kubalczyk. https://unsplash.com/@rev3n

The Advantage of a great brand

This originally appeared in Juntos Magazine by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber.

Humans are emotional.

We rely on our instincts and feelings to navigate everyday life. One study suggests we make 35,000 choices in a day – of course our guts are making most of those decisions or we’d never make it to breakfast before it was time for bed again.

When it comes to where we choose to spend our money as consumers, the same holds true.

If it’s a larger purchase, we might do some comparison shopping, seek out a few options, maybe ask people we trust what they think and look up some reviews online. But even when we do that: humans are irrational.

We don’t typically make the best objective choice. It takes a lot of discipline to act against your gut and a lot of convincing to change how you feel. Plus, when it comes to making a purchase there isn’t usually an objective choice to begin with. It’s mostly just instinct.

This is where the power of a brand comes in. It’s a shortcut for your brain to make a quick assessment about an organization and its products and services. It’s the story they tell, the story others tell about them and the story you tell yourself.

If you are a business leader, you don’t fully control that story but you can influence it.

You are in charge of the “look” of the brand: the name and logo, colors, words, design elements. But the brand story is so much more than that; it’s told in every touchpoint with your audience including promotion and advertising, the way employees represent and interact with customers, the end-to-end buying experience, etc. Plus the brand does not exist independently from the products and services it offers. Everything from features and benefits to pricing approach to where you choose to physically locate all contribute to the story.

Great brands deeply understand the story they are trying to tell and are thoughtful and intentional about the choices they make and how they support the larger narrative. We call this a brand position: what space do I want to occupy in the hearts and minds of my audience?

This includes knowing how they want their customers to answer these four questions:

  1. What does it do for me?
  2. How would I describe it?
  3. How does it make me feel?
  4. How does it make me look?

Great brands are consistent. They align their story with their product and how it fits with the desires and opportunities within the market. They believe their story and make sure their employees believe it too. They speak in a consistent voice and never provide a customer experience that betrays that story.

Great brands know that their customers should be the heroes of their story. Ikea creates a better everyday life for the many. Nike provides inspiration and innovation for athletes. Apple designs products to help people “think different.” They can always answer the question: what’s in it for the customer?

In this era of extreme innovation, competition and noise in the market, distinctive and memorable brands have the ultimate competitive advantage. They break through the noise and stand out. They have a dedicated group of believers who are repeat customers and enthusiastic advocates among their friends and networks. They have an organization that employees believe in and competitors envy.

If you are the leader of an organization, whether 1 or 1,000 employees, B2C or B2B, for-profit or nonprofit – you are doing yourself a disservice if you aren’t investing in your brand.

Consider what your foundational brand story is, then think about how your marketing and customer experience helps tell it.

Don’t try to be something you aren’t. Lean into who you are.

And get creative. Knowing your brand story is just the start, getting people to connect with it is where the real work starts.

When your prospective customers go to make a choice it’s inevitable their choice will be significantly influenced by a gut feeling, shaped by the story you tell and the impression your brand leaves on them.

Don’t leave that impression up to chance.

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