Branding: I Just Don’t Get It!

Hey! Small business owner! Branding still a mystery to you? Then let a non-branding expert give explaining it a shot. It may make the difference in the direction you head and the success you achieve down the road.

Written Aug 22, 2008, read 218 times since then.

I struggled with the concept of branding for a very long time. Branding was always paired with marketing in nearly every talk I listened to, so I figured these must be closely related but not quite the same. Yet, every time I heard or read what branding was, all I walked away with was convoluted descriptions of a nebulous idea. The pastor of my church says straight talk makes straight understanding. But on the subject of branding, no one ever came at me straight. I was beginning to think it wasn’t possible.

Then one day, a marketing expert gave her definition. Inna Shamis of AvantGarde Communications Group says, “its like the gut-feeling your consumers get about the value/benefit of your product/service.” That gave me pause. When my business partner and I discussed our product with people, their eyes lit up and we connected after they heard our story. “Hmm. Our story,” I said to myself. “People have been compelled by that for years. Maybe the answer to my branding question has been there all along.”

Literally an hour later, I watched a business television show and the topic that night was branding. The host bluntly asked, “What are you selling?” After false starts with answers like widgets and the next hip thing, the real answers became something more like safety, self-esteem, fun. Then I got it. I already knew this was an element of marketing. I just never saw it as the brand itself.

Now I understood why the topic of branding was so mesmerizing for me. It was for the same reason people leave a conversation with my man-of-few-words husband feeling like they just had the best talk ever – because he puts the focus on you. He basically asks, “Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it?” This is what branding is asking you – the business owner – and it intrigues you; makes you feel special. It makes you feel heard. My business partner and I had a story we loved to tell but it wasn’t being heard unless someone asked a direct question.

Usually you focus on asking who, what, when, where and why questions as they relate to your customer and you should – later. The beginning of understanding branding is first understanding your own motives. It’s pretty simple that way, and I am convinced that this basic understanding will help to alleviate the blank stares branding experts get when they try to talk about branding to a clueless audience.

So I ask you, do you remember when you first started that business? Remember what it made you feel? The reason why you started it in the first place? What you wanted to do for people? What you wanted your product to do? The answers to those questions will unite to form your brand. All you have to do now is boil it down to its essence, words and phrases you can use in your marketing.

Your brand is your special twist on something, also known as your differential. It is who and why you are and it comes to life via your service or product. The end of the understanding of branding is knowing what people get from your product or service when they see it and use it. These people are your target market.

Once you ask yourself those probing questions from above and listen to your answers, you may find that your brand is not what you thought it was and it may even be the very thing someone tried to steer you away from. “Don’t put it out there that you are mothers,” someone once told my business partner and I. But the fact that we are speaks to our customers. They first relate to us, then they relate to our product even more.

So answer your questions honestly. Don’t just say what you think potential customers want to hear. If you are true to you, it will show in your brand and be reflected in your product or service. It will attract customers who will be true to you as well.

To thine own self, business owner, be true.

Learn more about the author, Monica Dennis.

Comment on this article

Posted by Ken Peters, Phoenix, Arizona | Aug 23, 2008

Hi Monica

I feel that what you've outlined above is good advice for entrepreneurs who want/need to establish a perception of their brand in their own minds.

Once they have figured it out for themselves they will benefit from working with professional graphic designers who can visually articulate the message for consumer consumption.

Ultimately, the brand will be defined by consumer perception (which may be different than your own original perception), and there are innumerable mitigating factors. You can't determine how people will perceive things, but you can leverage design to communicate the message you wish to send, and to make emotional connections with consumers.

Branding isn't a science. It's persuasion. And persuasion is an art.

All the best!
Posted by Isabelle Zehnder, Vancouver, Washington | Aug 23, 2008

Great article. I've been in the same boat where I'm not quite sure what people mean when they explain what branding really is. You've explained it very well.

Thanks for the tips!
Posted by Monica Dennis, Stratford, Connecticut | Aug 23, 2008

Thanks, Ken. I agree that it ends up being what the people think but my thing is if you haven't got a clue where to start with this branding thing - and you haven't got the money to go to an expert to let them tell you - you have to start somewhere because your products or service need you to lead them in some sort of direction. Shoot, the customers do too a lot of the times! :-)

We've found great reception to us sharing what we are about and people seem to want to do business with people they believe in.

I don't think what I said will cover every scenario but for me, this branding thing just got a whole lot clearer and it's easier to imagine what to do next.

Isabelle, I'm so glad I could help even a little bit. I really have been in the rooms where people were talking branding and you could tell the listeners weren't quite grasping it but darn if anyone knew the right question to ask to get the confusion sorted out! But it's all still fun, despite ocassional hiccups like these.

Thanks ya'll!
Posted by Ken Peters, Phoenix, Arizona | Aug 23, 2008

Monica

That's wonderful. Continued success to you.

Ken
Posted by Isabelle Zehnder, Vancouver, Washington | Aug 23, 2008

When we start out often we don't have the money we'd like to spend on something like branding (once we figure out what it really is) :)

I do think we can still set ourselves apart by finding a color, a logo, something that works for us and that doesn't have to cost a ton of money. I think it's important that it's something we like and that we'll like into the future.

When I first started out I didn't really understand what branding really meant, though I had heard about it like you, Monica.

I found a web designer through a friend who is very artistic. I wanted a very simple logo that showed an uplifting family but not the traditional mom, dad, kid since today's famillies are so often single parents, blended families, etc.

I wanted two figures, one larger than the other, with uplifting arms, which he designed for me.

I chose a very uplifting color that I happen to look good in and decided everything I produce will have that color in it. And I wear that color when I put on workshops, meet with clients for the first time, etc.

And I've stuck with it. I still like it as much today as I did when we put it together. I really think that's key.

www.positivefamilysolutions.com

Having said that, I did have a professional pic taken for my coach profite in a more professional looking outfit and that I use for different purposes. I'm not wearing my color in the pic, and I think that's OK. Anything can also be overdone. I saved that for a more casual look (the small pick on my profile here).

Happy branding!
Posted by Ronita Roy Ghosh, New Delhi, New Delhi India | Aug 23, 2008

Great note put forward by you. Being a Marketing & Communication Consultant I will always look forward to such en lighting piece of knowledge.

Happy Branding!
Posted by Philip Shaw, Seattle, Washington | Aug 24, 2008

Monica, well said! As a Creative Director at an agency that does branding work and has clients coming to them to solve this "mystery", I agree that the conversation has become convoluted.

I go farther in suggesting that this "brand conversation" which started more than a decade ago, now, has been perpetuated by the likes of firms like mine to generate an awareness that translates to a need, which translates into business for ourselves.

Branding is not new, it's not a marketing phenomena, it's a socio-anthropological one. Recognizing it and using it to market a business is just good communications strategy. But I am too often embarrassed of my industry in this heralding cry of branding.

Where the rubber meets the road, (pardon the cliche) is where it works and your article on understanding "branding" is evidence that YOU have been able to see what's right and what's wrong in the conversation. I hope more people, like you, in the industry or not, can begin to distinguish this truth – it will ultimately lead to a stronger trust between marketing professionals and clients and when we both can trust, we can actually do work that works.

Philip Shaw
Posted by Kate Phillips, Carnation/Seattle, Washington | Aug 25, 2008

Monica, I like your way of looking at branding, it's refreshing! You also asked some great questions in your article. Thanks Kate Phillips, Total Wealth Coaching http://thegardenofplenty.com

Financial Transformation for Women
Posted by Monica Dennis, Stratford, Connecticut | Sep 01, 2008

Ronita, Philip and Kate - I appreciate your comments more than you know. Since branding isn't my field of expertise, I'm just hoping to get enough of a grip to help someone else out. Plus, it's just fun to share in a forum such as this. Thanks, again!
Posted by Brandi Pierce, Seattle, Washington | Sep 02, 2008

Wonderful article! =D

Come realize the power of COLOR.