Why your brand is so much more than just your logo.

You spent quite a bit of time thinking about your business name, right? And then probably a while looking at the design of the logo (or maybe not)? 

For some, that could be the sum total of the amount of thought really given to their business ‘brand’. Once happy with the logo, it’s added to the website, printed material, uniform, even some promotional merchandise, but whether you know it or not, that logo is conveying way more than just a visual name for your business. 

What your business stands for, it’s values, the audience it appeals to, the perceptions and connotations of what the look, feel and implementation says about the company are all made from the very first ‘touchpoint’ the client comes into contact with. They have already started making a view of your business, whether it’s one that will work for them and their perceptions of what your brand means to them.

For example, having lots of spelling mistakes, unrelated images, broken links etc on your website is not going to put your brand in a positive light. Unreturned calls, poor service, rude staff and lack of engagement is again going to create a judgement on your business brand. At this point, it really doesn’t matter how brilliant that business name is, or the fabulous design. Your brand is damaged and there’s a heck of a long road back to recovering lost or disgruntled customers or that negative brand perception.

Looking at how your staff engage with clients, the tone of voice in your digital communications and how any creative assets look, all tell your brand story, creating an identity and value in the eyes of the customer.

These touchpoints, the times when your customer comes into contact with your brand whether a visual representation or not, should always be consistent, professional, targeted, integrated and continuously reviewed to check they are reflecting your brand image and values positively.

By regularly engaging with your clients and staff and monitoring results, from looking at sales conversions to social media platform performance, you can identify if one of the touchpoints is letting the brand down and ultimately affecting sales.

Brand Equity

There’s much discussion of how much a brand is actually worth to a business. This intangible asset can be a difficult one to put a value on.

A brand’s worth to a business is known as it’s ‘equity’. The accepted formula for working out the equity is split into three segments: consumer brand equity, employer brand equity and financial brand equity. When it comes to the big brands, there are specialist companies who specialise in this and when it comes to buying or selling businesses, quite rightly, it becomes a key part of negotiations and any final settlement figures.

If you take a global brand like Apple which was recently valued as the first trillion dollar company, their brand has an estimated worth around $300 billion dollars of that.*        

From the aesthetics of their logo and products, to the interior of their stores and the presentation and knowledge of their staff, it is all incredibly consistent and unmistakably ‘Apple’. They are a brand that lives and breathes their values and design to the letter.

When you look at some of the recent business collapses such as House of Fraser, you can see where their brand started to go awry. Although home to luxury names, this high-end offering wasn’t matched with the level of customer service expected, which started to pale in comparison. Their online provision was late in development and clunky unlike its competitors and creatively their execution appeared disconnected to their core customers. Their touchpoints started to fail, and the brand direction lost.  

Looking at the recent redesign of logos of one of the most iconic fashion brands, Burberry, you start to question what that will mean for the brands future and value. Gone is the familiar equestrian knight and in its place a simple sans serif design that has been labelled by critics as ‘basic’. The character, heritage and values appearing to be dismissed in one fell design swoop.

Reviewing your brand

So how do you develop your brand as an SME? First of all, take a step back and look at what the business means to your customers, your employees, even your competitors. Ask the questions, listen to the answers. Remember, you are not the customer. What is their perception of the brand? What does it mean to them? What you think and hope can be very different to the reality.

Look at the core values that are the foundation of your business and what you would love to be known for. What are your aims and objectives. Compare that to what you have learnt from your customers, clients and employees. Are they singing from the same hymn sheet?  If not, why not?

Carefully review your customer’s journey and each touchpoint. Do they reflect your true business values, and identity, do they have a consistent creative appeal, is the tone of voice one that resonates with the target market?

When you're developing your business strategy make sure your brand is key to that process. You want to be able to proudly display your logo as a badge of honour, not look to hide behind it. *Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/326052/apple-brand-value                                                  

Your brand