Creating a memorable and recognizable brand image, message and promise is the ideal for every chief brand officer, brand manager or business owner, but how does one get there?
I offer three key steps to achieve brand awareness and foster brand reputation:
- Consistency: Your brand messages should be consistently communicated across all of your business touch points. Consistency creates security for customers as they become familiar with your brand and develop expectations for it. That security will lead to brand loyalty.
- Persistence: Your brand messages should be delivered again and again at every opportunity from traditional advertising programs to out-of-the-box initiatives.
- Patience: Your brand messages may not make it to consumers’ overnight. Don’t give up too soon. Continue your consistent and persistent brand communications and your brand image and promise will gain meaning for customers in time.
The key to branding is to understand it’s not about short-term gain but rather about meeting a wide variety of long-term business objectives including, customer retention, customer loyalty, word-of-mouth-marketing, new customer acquisition and much more. A solidly developed brand can mean more to customers than any short-term promotion.
Remember, be consistent, persistent and patient and your brand will grow and thrive.
If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to read Branding in the Spotlight – What is Branding? to get a more complete picture.
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye
