If you were to drive through downtown Baltimore, you’ll notice it has a lot to do with construction (and cursing), but what does construction have to do with branding?
I’ve oftentimes used various analogies for our brand building process, and to no surprise the phrase „building a strategic foundation“ is referenced. However just today I had a bit of an epiphany as I was driving north on Charles Street back toward my office. As I crossed over Mt. Royal Avenue (kicking myself for not getting my car’s A/C fixed yet) I said aloud, „Wow! They really got that up in a hurry!“
What was I referring to? The framework of the University of Baltimore’s new law school seemed to appear overnight. I travel the same route every day, and yet I was still surprised. For months, all I’ve seen is a giant hole in the ground with a bunch of guys in hard hats inside of a tall, chain link fence. While I realize that they’ve been hard at work all this time, I hadn’t noticed their progress until today. Building your brand is similar to their construction in that both take time, as well as a little bit of faith in the outcome.
You Have to Dig In, Before You Can Build Up Our three-step strategic process takes about 4-5 weeks to complete, and we recommend that our clients finalize that phase before any design work begins. Sometimes we get push back from our prospective new clients who say things like, „I can tell you everything you need to know in a matter of minutes. We just need a logo and a brochure.“
I understand their concern. It’s hard to justify something you can’t see or touch. However gathering the perspectives of both internal and external audiences is essential to creating a message that will be authentic, believable, and profitable. Gathering this information and developing a core strategy isn’t very sexy, but just like that giant hole I referenced above, you have to dig in before you can build up. You also need a blueprint. In our world, that’s called a marketing action plan – the „who, what, where, when and how much“ tactics needed to build your brand.
After 11 years and over 125 unique client relationships, I can guarantee you that one person alone cannot provide the adequately insight necessary to build a successful brand. Just like it takes a team of inspectors, surveyors, developers, engineers, architects, electricians and other professionals to create a law school, it takes a team of executives, salespeople, administrators, customers, referral sources, marketing consultants and creative designers to construct a sustainable brand.
Before You Rev Up the Bulldozer, Take a Look in the Mirror As a business owner, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the daily routines you’ve grown accustom to. To make sure you get off to a strong start building your brand, it’s best to put you business on pause just long enough to take an honest look at where your business is, and where you want it to go.
Rarely is one person or one thing the responsible for something good or bad. Certainly it can be a catalyst, but the net result is often cumulative. Therefore, before you plow ahead into hiring or firing staff, buying new equipment, or relying on technology to „tweet“ your way to the top, ask yourself:
Who are we as a business?
Who do we want to attract?
Who do we want to attract?
Why should they choose us?
How can we prove it to them?
If you want help arriving at the answers for building a magnetic brand, contact Dina Wasmer, President of Incite Creative, to schedule a Positioning Workshop where just 3 hours out of one day, could impact your business for a lifetime.