Some companies believe that outsourcing brand building to paid professionals is the way to go, and they’re half right. In the absence of an internal focus on a company’s brand, the flag could be planted far off the mark.
“Other than brand building, what’s the point of devoting resources to Twitter activity?”
The above quote was pulled from this article briefly outlining one man’s thoughts on using Twitter to build your brand. A quote that was responded to by the author:
“Branding is such a commonly used buzzword that it sometimes seems to be eating up the industry conversation.”
I don’t know which statement brought my jaw closer to the floor. The first, implying brand building has nothing to do with the actual business of a company, or the second claiming “brand” is a buzzword clouding out real information on how to grow your business.
Either way, I am reminded of how unclear the importance of brand building can be. Building your brand is YOUR business. Regardless of if a company makes doughnuts, computer cables or advertisements, we are all accomplishing one task. We are building our brands.
A common misconception – and one I held in my extreme youth – is that a brand is defined by the “designy stuff” that a company puts out. Tangible items like logos, websites, letterheads, brochures, ads. They are part of it. The important thing to remember, though, is that those items only make up a small portion of the entire brand. And they are meaningless(!) without effectively growing the larger intangible portion.
The big picture involves everything – I repeat EVERYTHING – your customers and your employees/co-workers come into contact with. To make this point even clearer people are the largest part of your brand; YOU and your actions are a part of your company’s brand.
So what, as the agency, is our job if yours is to build your brand? Just as your brand can become irrelevant without constant maintenance of the intangible je ne sais quoi qualities, the message is meaningless if it remains hidden.
- Your customers need reminders of who you are and what your brand is to continue to come back.
- Your prospective customers need to know what makes you better than the competition.
- Your employees need encouragement to keep up the good work.
Care for your brand. It is your business.
