Corporate brand development is a critical task that any new organization needs to conquer. As this stage will greatly determine the direction of marketing campaigns, networking efforts, and organizational development, a significant amount of efforts and resources must go towards solid conceptualization.
Here, we discuss the three fundamental questions that a business must ask itself, to be able to come up with a cohesive, effective, and appealing corporate brand.
What do you do? In introducing oneself, the very first information to present would be what one does. Is it offering a service, or a product, or both? In a sentence, how would such an offering be described? This description essentially puts the organization in a category, in the industry it belongs to. It is, however, important to distinguish the corporate brand, which concerns how the organization presents itself, from the branding of its products or services. While these would be related, corporate branding should be about the organization and its capability and competence.
Who is your target market? To whom does the company intend to present its offerings? The target market is typically described in terms of their demographic: age, gender, socio-economic status, educational attainment. Sellers of luxury goods such as designer leather handbags, for example, would be targeting high-income, adult men and women. Other useful categories would be their location, hobbies and interests, political affiliation, and religious affiliation. Sometimes, too, in the course of clarifying one’s target market, it is also useful to articulate subsets that the brand does not wish to sell to.
What sets you apart from the competition? In marketing parlance, the answer to this question would constitute the value proposition, or that statement that explains why the customer should choose the company’s offerings, over the many other options available in the market. Value proposition statements usually make a reference to the product’s high quality, the brand’s prestige, the company’s exceptional customer service, the reasonable cost of their offerings, or the accessibility of their stores. And the best brands are those that can boast of having all of these features. But it is also perfectly fine to highlight only one of these features, if that is the company’s selling point, and what it is proudest of.
If a company is able to devote sufficient attention to its brand development, the result would be easy to see. Its marketing materials would look consistent, and readily draw the attention of the target consumers. The copywriters and its brand ambassadors, as well as its prospective marketing partners in the industry would also have a quick reference. In short, the business is set to greatly benefit from thoughtful corporate brand development.
To learn more about brand development, get in touch with the experts at GBX Digital, a world-class digital marketing agency based in New York.GBX Digital understands that every organization has a message that it must be able to convey through branding, and they know just how to get it through. Call them today or visit GBXDigital.com today, for more information.