A brand’s identity is like a person. Like a child, its identity matures with age. Changes are often subtle and sometimes radical. The identity of your company, product, or your service is its core essence. Like the child, it grows and develops over time. How you position your company will be the name, the logo and the tag line (e.g., the brand name Nike has the arrow as the logo and the tag line “just do it”).

Your signature is the combination of the logo, the name, and the tag line. Your business card, letterhead, envelopes, product labels, menus, and advertising (including your website and signage) will all project your image.

Once your identity is established, you will build your brand through marketing related activities, such as advertising, social networking and promotions to capture your audience. Your company will at that point be branding your identity in the minds of the consumers you choose to target. As trends come about and perception’s fluxuate and change, so can your image vary over time.

Positioning, on the other hand, communicates your intent regarding which audience to target and what your business is about. The purpose of branding and positioning yourself is to help people remember who you are. Your purpose is to get consumers to gravitate towards something they desire that you have to offer.

Your next step in this process is to think about the language including which buzz words you will use to explain what it is your business does. This “elevator pitch” is a 30 second speech (a short elevator ride) that tells what it is that you offer. It’s important to develop this as jargon free as possible. Any individual should understand exactly what is it that you do. A two-sentence statement is ideal.

When making these choices, it is crucial to know what your competition is saying. What do they look like, and how do they describe their services/business?

Do you want your image to be friendly, pleasurable, magical, customized, procedural, clean and crisp, luxurious, pampering, soothing, tropical, proactive, etc? What is it that you want your potential clients to think about so that they will in turn want to visit your facility?

Remember, every event, experience, and message that you put out to the public will affect your image in the eyes of the consumer.

So with that in mind, you will want to carefully select your font, color, logo, tag line and the image you wish to relay. Do you have a local graphic company that you want to work with, or would you want me to suggest one to you? If you have someone local, ask to see the kind of work they have done for other businesses. Regardless of who you hire, make sure that they use the Pantone system, which is a universal color format.

Of course, we are available to assist you with any part of the process involving branding or positioning your business.

Hope this helps you get started on branding your image.

Have you successfully branded your facility?  Please share!  

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