You've just started your own company. Now you're the boss. You get to call all the shots. Soon you'll be raking in more cash than you can bag--and on your terms, too! But if you don't create a brand for your company, you'll be out of business faster than you started it. Here are five reasons why creating a brand for your company remains critical for success.
Power
Perhaps the most important reason to create a company brand is power. Branding empowers your company. How? By helping consumers to focus their attention on a clearly identified item. For example, Intel makes computer chips. You may not know that, but you probably know Intel company commercials and products when you see them! Intel uses the same blue and silver logo every time, with the orange button on the lower right. When people see this logo on their computer, they know they've got a powerful item in their system that works. Now that's power!
Recognition
Recognition
Another reason why creating a brand for your company remains critical for success is branding helps people recognize a product associated with your company. Take Altoids, for instance. The company consistently uses the phrase "The Curiously Strong Mints" as part of its brand. This phrase is also used as part of the company's product packaging. Applying these methods reinforces the same message, the same look, and the same feel. That's why you always know an Altoids product when you see one.
Reliability
Next, use branding so that people know what to expect each and every time they buy your product. No matter which McDonald's you visit, you already know exactly what you are going to get before you enter the store. You are going to see the same golden arches. You are going to taste the same hamburgers. And your experience will be exactly the same as when you first tried the food.
Simplicity
Yet another reason it is important to create a brand for your company is simplicity. In other words, over time a company's brand speaks for itself. There was a time when Nike used both its logo and the slogan "Just Do It" in every piece of advertising the company produced. Then, the company made a bold move by removing the slogan and using the logo only. With just one "swoosh," Nike sells.
Notoriety
All reasons for creating a brand are important, but the ultimate success comes when your company becomes a household topic of conversation! Just look at Old Spice. Most recently, the company has combined a well-conceived and well-executed advertising campaign with humor to create a commercial that still creates a lot of buzz. The reason is simple: People identify with and seek social identity through branded products.
Never forget that creating a brand for your company is important. Branding is the source of the promise to your customer. In order for that promise to radiate from every part of your company, create the personality your company needs in order to succeed: a brand.