Branding First, then Marketing

June 1, 2007 at 1:24 am

Why it’s smarter business to invest in your brand before you buy that marketing pitch

Many people shy away from marketing (and marketers) as a way of promoting their business for fear of the financial cost to their business, then to be landed with a flash in the pan marketing plan with all the bells and whistles but no substance to go with it. This may arise from the fact that the marketer is a fly-by-nighter looking for a way to make a quick buck – your quick buck in fact. Most marketers worth their salt these days will however, now present you with a way of testing and measuring to make sure you are getting a return on your investment. In fact they’re getting darn good at it, but not-good-enough.

The problem with this type of approach is you may be holding them back from doing the best job. A marketer can only go so far in ways to present you to the outside world. From there it is still up to the consumer to decide whether they will spend their hard earned dollar with you. Your consumers need to know who you are, trust you or your product and ‘know’ that you are the best service, or product, to fulfil their need.

But, what if, before you market bought from you, just because it is you. In other words they have bought in to your values, your ‘story’, your good keen, trustworthy home grown company. They already ‘get’ you. All they need to know is what’s the deal and where can I get it.

So I ask the question: Do you know who you are? Sure, you know what you sell, you know all the features off by heart, but who are you and what do you stand for?

Who cares, you may be thinking. So what if I don’t have a ‘mission statement’ isn’t that soo 1990’s? But, if you don’t care, why should your consumers? If you don’t know whom you are and what your business stands for, how is anyone else going to know? And if no one else knows then why would they buy off you. Your company has no meaning to them. You are a blank paper that provides them no benefits.

Let’s start from the ground up. Firstly you must remember you are in the business of selling something to a person, a living, breathing, thinking and – most importantly – feeling human being. Here we go, you say, fluffy, airy-fairy stuff, how does these warm feelings affect my bottom-line? No matter what you are selling, and what company or group of consumers you are selling too, somewhere up the chain of purchasing decision making is one of these living breathing people. Because these people are human beings they will make these decisions based, not just on the facts – does your product solve their problem, is it cost or time effective – but also by how the feel about your company. Their emotive decision is between 30-80% of the decision making process! That’s a big gap, but is it safe to ignore and let someone else pick up?

So here’s the good news, you can help guide how your consumers feel about you and this whole experience is tied up with one thing – your brand. No, not your logo, stationery or nifty website, although all these are mitigating factors, but the whole look and feel (their feeling) of who you are. Though the word ‘brand’ is thrown around daily the actual use of it is not being used for the meaning that it was intended. Think about the first time you meet someone. Almost instantaneously conclusions are drawn as to who you are, are you trustworthy, easygoing or a bit uptight, funny or dead serious, or, to sum it up, if they like you. As you know, if they do like you, it opens the doors to a longer conversation, and they will invest more time with you. If they don’t like you (and you want them to) you still have the chance in your ensuing conversations or meetings to build a rapport or trusting relationship, especially if you know what appeals to them. This is essentially your brand as a person.

Running a business is no different. Your business is a living, breathing, growing (we hope!) entity. It needs to appeal to your consumers so they like it straight off. And if they don’t, or it’s not possible, your company can have the chance to build itself up in their mind, which is easier, and quicker, if you know what it is that appeals to them. And to do this, just like a person, it needs to know what it is and what it stands for. Which takes us back to the mission statement.

Branding First, then Marketing

Why it’s smarter business to invest in your brand before you buy that marketing pitch

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