3-Stage Brand Process

HELPING YOU
TO THINK, LOOK
AND ACT
LIKE A BRAND

3-STAGE BRAND PROCESS

I believe there are three stages to a successful brand:
Stage 1: Brand Creation
Stage 2: Branding
Stage 3: Brand Communication

From my experience, many small businesses and entrepreneurs start at Stage 2. They get someone to design them a logo (branding), they get someone to build them a website (branding) and – Hey presto! – they have started a business.

But having missed out on the first, and most important, stage of creating their brand, they can find it difficult to differentiate themselves from their competitors. And, they can find it difficult to connect with their customers. If this sounds like you, don’t worry, I can still help you create your unique brand.

You should create your brand before you do your branding. If you aren’t quite sure what the difference is between your brand and your branding, don’t beat yourself up. It’s probably because no one has ever explained it to you properly. Visit my Brand v Branding page, where I give it my best attempt.

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STAGE 1: BRAND CREATION

The first, and most important, stage for any successful brand is creating the brand.

Brand creation is three things:

It’s about really understanding the DNA of your business by ascertaining who you are, what you do, how you do it and, most importantly, why you do it – your purpose!.
It’s about really understanding what makes your ideal clients tick. Who they are, what they are thinking and what emotions they are feeling, and how you can connect with those emotions and become relevant to them during the decision-making process.
It’s about telling the right story and creating the right key messages, so you can communicate and persuade your target audience with confidence.

Creating a brand is about creating an emotional connection between you/your business and your customer. Human beings make decisions using the emotional part of their brain (the amygdalae, that forms part of the limbic system).

We can help you create your brand, by extracting what is unique about your business (your DNA) and communicating that to your target audience. You may provide the same products and services as your competitors, but there will be something about how or why you do what you do, that will be unique to your business. If we can work out what that is and work out how we can best tell that story in the most relevant way we can to your customers, then we will have completed the first stage of creating a successful brand.

You don’t need to be a new business to go through this process. I have taken businesses that have been trading for 10-15 years through it, all with the same reaction – “We should have done this years ago!”.

My Brand Creation Process helps you to think like a brand. Giving you the clarity, confidence and courage to connect with your clients. If you would like to discuss how the brand creation process works, please get in touch.

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It is only once you have defined and understand your brand, that you should then go on to develop your branding…

STAGE 2: BRANDING

This stage is where we help you create your branding. Your branding is the visual part of your brand. Basically, everything you do that your customers will see. This includes your brand identity (or logo). It includes the colours, typefaces and imagery your brand uses to tell your brand story.

And these days, developing your brand will almost certainly include designing and developing your online presence – website and social media pages.

The most important part of developing your branding is consistency. This is especially important for small businesses, whose exposure to their customers is limited. Consistency helps with recognition and familiarity. Familiarity builds trust. And trust is one of those extremely important emotions that you want to trigger during decision-making.

Our Branding Package is about looking like a brand, so your target audience recognises your marketing messages and thinks about your brand.

If you would like to talk about creating the branding for your business, or rebranding your business, please get in touch.

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Once your brand and branding have been created, you can then look at the best way of communicating your brand to your target audience/s…

STAGE 3: BRAND COMMUNICATION

As Seth Godin so eloquently put it: “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

Stage 3 is the day-in, day-out part of building and maintaining a successful brand. What is the point of thinking and looking like a brand, if you then don’t act like one?

Having completed the brand creation and branding stages will make brand communication much easier. It will help you make sure that all your communications are ‘on brand’, which will help you make sure your marketing budget (and time) is spent most effectively.

I can help you with your Brand Communication. Either by making sure your marketing activities remain on-brand through regular brand communication meetings, or by doing your marketing activities for you. Or anything in between.

Having me at your side will: