Find the ‘target’ when branding your business

Business AdVISE By Teresa Vise

Special to The North Jefferson News




Brand positioning is part art and science.

The art, or creative side, is usually the primary focus where we form a creative, strategic assessment of the market, and use this to develop a differentiating brand position. But, the more methodical approach, via market research, is equally important in developing a brand position.

Think about how you may have developed your logo, or style for your business. Perhaps you sat down with a few confidants and brain stormed over the idea for a while, and then took a vote as to the most popular.

Then, voila! You had a consensus agreement of the plan and your brand position was developed.

While this creative component is important, it can certainly be incomplete. An additional qualitative approach can save you a good bit of heartburn, so it is advised to test your idea out before you launch it. Here are some ideas on an interview based approach to test your brand positioning concept:

• How does this position affect your customer’s view of competing brands?

• What impact does the position have on the purchase decision?

• How does the position satisfy a need in the market?

• How will I differentiate myself from the competition?

• What makes me unique and allows me to satisfy a unique need?

By asking these few simple questions, you can begin to see how your ideas will impact the ACTION that you want your brand to create. This type of quantitative thinking will allow you to see the strengths and weaknesses of your idea.

So often, we do fall in love with our business or idea, and you need to step back and objectively assess where you are going. Bringing a product to market can be an expensive endeavor and relaunching a product after a first time failure is even more costly. Taking the time to assess and getting it right the first time is vital.

Failure to differentiate your brand can lead to a commodity feel for your product. Failure to differentiate only on minute differences between products can leave your customer feeling as if there is really no difference at all.

Think about Volvo for a minute as it is a good example of a simple, singular, focused message. In spite of ads that focus on new styles and advanced power, you still get an overriding message of one main thing: Safety. “The safest car on the road.” Simple, singular, focused.

Taking time to create your own brand message, when done extremely well, also can reposition the competition for you. If your message makes you the safest, then it potentially, directly or indirectly, repositions another as less safe. We can see this in everything from cars and cereal to political candidates.

As you let these ideas simmer over the next week, think about what you are REALLY saying to your customers. Who is the “target,” for your product and the “need” or “benefit” that it fills. Once you do this, you have done nothing differently than the thousands of others that you compete with in your marketplace.

Take it to the next level, and find the “reason to believe” that you will give your customers. Giving your customer a “reason to believe” that you are unique is key.

This is how you take a “need” to a “want.” It is the “want” or the “got to have it” that is going to make someone buy your product over the product of someone else.

Good luck this week with developing a higher level of brand strategy for your customers. Remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Teresa Vise is the marketing, growth, events and special projects co-director for the Fultondale Chamber of Commerce. She received her MBA from Samford University and is a speciality sales professional with Sanofi Aventis. She can be reached at teresa.vise@sanofi-aventis.com.