I often get asked, how to create a great brand. There isn’t an easy answer to this question, because successful brands spend a lot of time figuring out how to launch and develop their brand. But telling your story is a key to fabulous branding and companies such as Nike are good at storytelling.
Uber, Airbnb, Starbucks, Amazon all are fast growing brands worth millions, gazillions or billions. How did they get to the top of their niche, because quite frankly it’s not all about having a snappy logo! In the case of the Starbucks logo, I don’t see any relevance to coffee at all! Don’t put all your time, effort and money on designing your logo before you have a better idea of how your logo could reflect your brand.
How do you create your brand? It starts with answering these three simple questions
- Who is my target market?
- What does this market need, what are they concerned about?
- What is my unique selling proposition to help solve the problems of my target market?
WHO IS MY TARGET MARKET?
For example, if you have a business idea to deliver healthy food to offices via a software delivery system, such as the company Feedr , invented by a young entrepreneur, Riya Grover, based in the UK, her target market group could be
- Businesses in your hometown that have 5+ employees
- Businesses who have young employees (20-35)
- Co-working spaces with limited kitchen facilities
Once you have figured out the next questions, you will be closer to developing your brand
WHAT DOES THIS TARGET MARKET NEED, WHAT ARE THEY CONCERNED ABOUT?
Now that you have figured out your target market, the next question is, what do they care about? Sticking with our business idea example of delivering healthy food to offices, what problems do these young people working in offices or co-working spaces have? Here are some ideas
- No time because they are totally immersed in work
- Odd hours, because they have multiple deadlines
- Care about healthy eating but don’t have any time to prepare their own meals
- Like variety, and could be vegan, gluten intolerant etc. and have special dietary needs
- Work on their phone or laptop and have no designated office space
- Move around frequently
This profile now gives you a better idea of what brand you can develop and leads you to
UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
Understanding your target market and what problems you can solve, helps you come up with your unique selling proposition. Your solution can now be the foundation to create a great brand.
To serve a target market of young people, who are totally locked into their devices, are on the go, have very little working space and no time, you can see that your unique selling proposition must solve the problems and serve up solutions to make their lives a lot easier.
In our example, there are a couple of business ways to solve it.
One, you could have a retail space(s) that makes delicious food, delivered to the target market or
Two, you might develop a software system that with the tap on the app you can order up your healthy meal and have it delivered to your designated spot of the day in under an hour. Perhaps it will be delivered by Uber!
Whether you decide on business model one or two, either one can give you great ideas to create your brand story.
YES, YOUR BRAND STORY IS THE BASE OF HOW TO CREATE A GREAT BRAND
Show the raw side, inject some personality of how you relate to your target market. You are probably part of your target market because that’s how you knew there was a problem because you experienced it yourself. And more importantly the story of your customers. How they interact with your brand, how they love your brand because it solved their problems.
One of our clients, the financial advisory firm, Blackmore Levy Group, is different from many companies in this space. Instead of concentrating on financial products ie, wealth products, insurance and mortgages, they tell stories of how they have helped their clients, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. These true case study blog posts are part of their plan to create a great brand where helping clients build their financial house the right way is the key to their success.
YOUR ‘WHY’ IS KEY TO YOUR BRANDING
Simon Sinek in his guide “Find Your Why” says when you understand your “why” you have a point of reference for everything you do going forward and that applies to your storytelling. From your “why” you can create your golden circle: Why, How, What
Digital marketer, Susan Langmann and I discuss how storytelling can help you establish your brand and a tribe of loyal followers in this podcast. Susan gives a great example of a French furniture maker. He has a passionate “why” which leads him to ‘how’ he set up his company to build what kind of unique furniture for what kind of clients.
YOUR CUSTOMER MUST BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF YOUR BRAND
Everything you do to create your brand must relate to your customer. How do they want to be treated? How do you create trust and cement trust with your customers? Over and over again, you must deliver in order to create a great brand that people love.
And as you create a brand you will develop a “brand voice”, that will be recognizable to fans of your brand. The Kardashian clan have that unique “brand voice” that makes them relatable to their audience. Love it or hate it, it is a unique branding style that they have developed over time. From their popular TV show, “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” the Kardashian brand has many offshoots with lifestyle, fashion and beauty products to create a mega brand and a loyal following. Kylie Jenner’s “lips kits” sold out in a matter of minutes and she has propelled herself into Forbes top 30 under 30 list. Look at the unique branding!
Now, back to your logo. It’s pretty simple from here. You decide what kind of brand you want to develop and how can you create a logo that speaks to your brand. One of my favorite logos is the Tour De France Logo. The font of the logo on the word “tour” and the sun create a racing bike. Pretty clever if you ask me. And because a yellow jersey is awarded at the end of each day of the Tour De France, the yellow sun is very significant on several levels! This logo is fun, has a subliminal meaning and is relatable. What is unique about this logo is telling a story.
Once you have created your brand identity and logo, the next step is to incorporate your brand style into everything else you develop, your website, your promotional materials, your advertising, your blog posts, your YouTube videos, Your Instagram, yes….everything!
If you want to create a brand with impact, telling your story is the number one way you will create impact and have a following. Telling your story in a podcast, video in pictures, or words in a blog format they are all ways to connect with your prospects. We hope these tips will help. If you are a startup company and would like to read more about branding for startups, check out this Foundr blog post.
If you need help creating your unique brand, and telling your story, we are here to help you. Book a free 30-minute FREE video call to get you started. Contact us today.
XL Consulting Group specializes in helping startups get launched online by creating websites, copywriting, social media management and marketing consultations. For our website clients who want to do their own blogging and site maintenance we create customized videos with easy to follow instructions. We walk with you every step of the way until you become an expert!