Branding is not just about good design and powerful logos, it’s about transmitting a company’s core values to generate sustained customer loyalty. So if a brand’s values have not been clearly defined in the first place it stands to reason that an eye-catching ‘transmitter’ – or logo – will only succeed in getting attention. It will fail in its ultimate aim of: a) generating positive brand recognition; b) reminding customers to ‘choose’ the brand and c) providing long-term increases in market share.

If a company’s core values are grey, or their products are not clearly differentiated from their competitors’, I’d advise business leaders to address this before doing anything else. It’s a sobering fact that in the midst of the economic downturn, global brand Coca-Cola has just announced it will be investing in UK drinks company ‘Innocent’ which was little more than a pipe dream eleven years ago. “We have long admired their brand, their products and their unique approach to business,” said a spokesperson from Coca-Cola. We believe our investment will support... the business to expand across Europe.” And to think Innocent’s founders were nervous about giving up their day jobs when they launched the company in 1998!

Coca-Cola may not have been talking about estate agencies and property businesses but they may as well have been. We all buy into companies using our perception of the benefits offered and the people behind them – their strengths, characteristics and traits. There is a lot that companies can do to take advantage of this and enhance their ‘image-power’ without blowing the marketing budget.  

Fundamentally, business leaders must clearly state their company’s vision and values and then ensure they are being communicated at every level of the company – through its people and products, services and company culture.
Stronger branding could be as simple as standardising the greeting customers hear when they telephone the company, inspecting company cars to ensure they are always presentable, reviewing online property descriptions on their website – there’s no excuse for inconsistencies here in terms of content, ineffective language use or spelling mistakes. They all say something about your company.

Enjoy-Work is a perfect example of a company that has taken brand management seriously and been consistently voted one of the Top 50 Workplaces in the UK by the FT. After all, if your brand hasn’t got a great reputation, you can’t expect to attract great people. (see www.enjoy-work.com). Even the Enjoy-Work logo helps consumers identify its core brand values: ‘If people enjoy work, they do better work. If they do better work, you have a better business’.
Every aspect of the marketing plan has been conceived to promote the enjoyment of work – from the location, with a waterfall and two-tiered lake, to the ‘surprises’ received by staff on site and the events organised regularly – including speedboat racing and geese-herding.

Many industry leaders agree: their people are effectively their brand.
Estate agents so often promote their brands according to norms in the industry but agents need to present their businesses, and their clients’ homes, in a unique way. Foxtons pioneered the branded Minis, for example, but it’s interesting how, just months after companies across the country followed suit, many are now considering that their brand has more value being perceived as ‘green’ rather than being emblazoned across a fleet of company cars.
One thing is for sure though, although strong branding doesn’t happen overnight, first-class service will always be fundamental to stronger brand power and when a company’s logo wins ‘mind space’ with its target audience, positive action and good business will follow.

Danielle manages the brand reputations of leading agencies across the South-East. Visit www.thebrandeffect.co.uk for more information.

 
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