Marketing experts are constantly expressing how important it is for businesses to create and build a strong brand that customers can identify with and trust in. On first impressions, you might think this is only true for a large multinational business that has millions of customers and thousands of employees, but this thinking could not be further from the truth. Whether it’s a large multinational company or a small budding start-up, creating a strong brand is essential.

But what do we mean by ‘brand’ exactly? To put it simply, the brand of a business is a combination of all of the elements that create the impression of how a customer will perceive that company. It is the logo, website, the company’s values, products, marketing, social media presence, image and can include their customer service too.

On that note, let’s discuss why it is so important to have a very strong brand, even as a small business:

A strong brand is easily recognised.

Think about how easy it is to recognise a well-branded product, let’s say an Apple laptop or Nike trainers for example. With either of these brand names, a consumer does not have to think twice about the purchase, as they immediately know what the product is going to deliver. With Apple, the customer knows that they’re getting a reliable, modern laptop that is durable, fast and has all of the latest features. Likewise, when choosing a Nike product, customers know that they’re getting a high quality product from one of the biggest names in the industry.

A strong brand creates trust.

As humans, we instinctively trust a well-known brand much quicker than we would a brand that we had never heard of before. This can be due to having a positive experience with this brand before or hearing recommendations from other people who have had experience with the brand. The trust factor is there when it comes to big brand names, and once that’s established, companies can expect to see their sales go through the roof.

A strong brand makes a company memorable in the eyes of customers.

Just imagine you sell a great product; let’s say a pair of sunglasses for example. Your customers love them and keep on getting lovely compliments about them, and are constantly recommending your products to their friends. Although this is great and what you want to happen, these people will not turn into customers unless your brand is strong and memorable. In fact, they will simply forget the name of your company and maybe even choose one of your competitors to buy from.

A strong brand creates value for your business.

Once you have built up a strong brand for your business, you can expect it to have a massively positive impact on the value of your company over time. And the more recognisable and popular your brand is the better it will be for the value of your business. In short, establishing a strong brand will mean that your products will be sold at a higher retail value and your company will be worth more when, and if, you decide to sell it.

These are just some of the many reasons why it is so important for businesses of all sizes and natures to have a strong brand. Consumer traits are changing all of the time, but a strong brand remains to be one of the best ways for a company to truly connect with its customers.

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Branding is a particularly important aspect of promotion. It is what helps you develop recognition and differentiate yourself from the competition. Your brand is not just your business’s name, it is the personality of your company and how you want your business to be viewed as a whole.

Any brand is made up of a number of different elements that will be determined by the nature and character of your business. Here we will look at five of these elements, how they work together and how to combine them into a successful and engaging brand.

Value Proposition

The Value Proposition does not necessarily mean that you offer better value than your competitor. The Value Proposition is essentially the feature of your product that your customer will value. This might be the quality of the build of the product, a unique feature that your product has or the level of customer support you provide.

The Value Proposition helps to distinguish your brand in the marketplace. It is important to find a way of establishing your Value Proposition with your customer.

Ethos

Ethos and Value Proposition sometimes overlap. The Ethos of your business represents a core value that motivates you to sell your product. It might be that you simply want to provide the best customer service or the highest quality product. It might also be more abstract and appeal to a different target market, for instance you might want to make your product from recycled or natural materials.

Whatever the Ethos of your company it should inform your brand identity. Figure out what audience your particular Ethos will appeal to and develop a way to convey that Ethos to them clearly and simply.

Voice

Voice is one of the more difficult aspects of your brand to establish. It should convey the personality and character of you and your business but at the same time needs to maintain an appropriate level of professionalism and not alienate or put off a large portion of the target market. However, a too impersonal Voice may prevent people from identifying with your brand at all.

Logo

Most of the other branding elements mentioned are somewhat flexible and can be adapted as the business changes. The job of the Logo however is essentially to stay the same. This means it is important to get it right the first time. Hiring a professional to help in its design is the best way to do this.

The Logo needs to encapsulate many of the other elements of the brand into one single design. The character of the voice, the ethos of the business, the value proposition of the product all need to be communicated through the logo design to some degree.

Engagement

All of the effort you put into your business’s branding is ultimately directed towards one goal: Engagement. Each element of your branding has to work to engage your target market in some way. This will result from familiarity with your brand, through its logo, direct marketing, online presence, word of mouth and many other factors.

In developing your brand it is also important to engage directly with your target market. By finding out where your target customers are, whether online or in the real world, you can develop a relationship with those customers on a personal level.

Becoming involved in online discussions, supporting customers who have been let down by competitors and establishing collaborative projects with customers are just a few simple ways in which a business can use Engagement to develop their brand.

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Even the smallest brand can take off in a big way with the simplest of slogans. Here we look at a few of the most famous slogans used by Irish brands to keep their products on the tips of our tongues over the years.

“So fresh its famous.” – Pat the Baker

It always helps if you can roll your slogan into a catchy little song. That’s just what Pat the Baker did way back in the 80’s along with a colourful animated TV spot. The tune still rings in our ears today, bright and early every morning…

“Guinness is good for you.” – Guinness

Guinness have become the masters of marketing over the years but this early slogan established the beginning of their marketing mastery. Later slogans would include other Guinness classics like “Good things come to those who wait.”

“The fillet of cheddar.” – Kilmeaden Cheddar

This one is a little left field but it comes from the kind of creative thinking that produces the best slogans. Not only is it simple enough to be catchy it manages to give what could be just a plain old block of cheddar an air of sophistication.

“Every day should have it’s golden moments.” – Barry’s Tea

Barry’s first ever TV commercial hit us with this snippy little number. It had to be good because it was up against Lyons tea’s “Extra quality, extra flavour, Lyons the quality Tea” jingle.

“Today’s bread, today.” – Brennan’s Bread

Between Pat the Baker and this one from Brennan’s, bread manufacturers seem to have the lions share of the slogan market in Ireland. Nothing could be simpler than this slogan, it’s only two words.

What Makes a Great Slogan?

Brevity is obviously an important ingredient in a successful slogan. No one is getting a paragraph of text stuck in their head. Like the chorus of a catchy pop song the slogan needs to be short enough that it can roll around in your head over and over again without getting too annoying or tiring.

Alliteration is a technique that helps phrases to stick in people’s minds. “Guinness is Good for you” and “So Fresh  it’s Famous” use this well. Its not just about having the same sound repeat, it must also  have its own rhythm.

What makes creating a successful slogan so challenging is not only do you need to make it short and memorable, you also have to speak to the qualities of your product that you want to promote.

Brennan’s slogan is a great example of this. At face value it is almost nonsensical, what other type of bread are you going to have today? But the implication of freshness is obvious. It tells its audience that their bread is delivered fresh everyday, freshness being the ultimate selling point of any bread.

However the tone and pacing of the the two words and their repetition creates a sense of comfort and familiarity. “Today’s bread today.” doesn’t just tell you that the bread is fresh, it suggests the feeling of warmth and reassurance we get from eating that most nourishing and essential of foods.

So finding that perfect slogan to promote your brand might take weeks or months of trying out ideas and reflecting on the qualities and characteristics of your brand, but once you get it it comes in a flash. And its potential value to your company could be priceless.

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