Brand: What's your value?
A successful brand ‘resonates’ with a select part of the market. It starts with the customer and has ‘the end’ in mind.
Actually a brand starts with a ‘value’ or series of congruent values that energetically resonate with a target customer, however your customer needs to buy into your ‘values’ to ensure that it resonates deeply. That’s why it’s a crucial step to identify both your values and your ‘ideal’ customer. Why? Because values that resonate with your ‘ideal’ customer are the most powerful motivating forces out there. Get these two factors correct and see the value for yourself! Remember that values are also what people ‘buy’: customers don’t buy what you do, they buy what you believe! So ask yourself, what DO YOU BELIEVE and how do you communicate this to your market; specifically your ‘ideal’ customer?
Never has this factor been more relevant to business nor more ignored by business in the marketplace. This approach applies whether you’re the smallest of businesses or up there with the largest and most universally renowned. Understand your ‘values’ and you’ll understand your value in the market.
Your first goal when it comes to brand, design or marketing is to get ‘grounded’. When I say grounded, in branding terms, I mean achieve clarity. To clarify, ‘clarity’ means defining what you stand for and what you don’t (and why), and who you’re looking to talk to – your ‘ideal’ customer. It’s a smart business and business owner who gets ‘in sync’ with their values and your ‘ideal’ customer. Brands with clearly defined and communicated values perform far better both in financial, sales and cultural terms than those businesses who don’t have values or ambiguous one at that. A core identity provides a clear focus for the business from top to bottom and has an energising effect on brand performance. While your brand may have some strong values around it from when you first started out on your business journey, clearly communicating your values can strengthen your relationship with your existing customers and attract new, genuine connections from your target audience (or Avatar).
Does your business have clear values? What does your business stand for? Do you live your values or are they stored in the third drawer down? Do your employees know your core values? Can they clearly articulate what your business stands for in 30 seconds or less? Can you? Regardless of whether you can or not, it makes good brand and marketing sense to start with a strong foundation – get those values cemented in stone!
Brands and businesses fail simply because they lose sight of their customer – they become irrelevant, lack strategic planning or ignore their core values. Define your values, get laser-focused on your ‘ideal’ customer and keep them in focus with My Avatar – its the smarter way to brand and market your business.
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I hope you gained some benefit or learned something new, insightful or useful.
As The Brand Entrepreneur, I believe in and am focused on helping busy business owners and savvy entrepreneurs to ‘market smarter’ by deeply defining and finding their ‘ideal’ customer with The ‘My Avatar’ Workshop. Successful brands in the future care about customers, not branding. I believe that future is now. I’m passionate and focused on creating brand stories & design assets that help brands get ‘in sync’ and connected to ‘customers they care’ about.