Branding Inspiration #1 - The Real Zeal

What's the fuss about brand building? Do we need these external elements like logos and stuff?

The answer is yes may be we do.

I sat through an inspiring talk by this a gentleman called

http://www.pluggd.in/anand-babu-periasamy-gluster-cofounder-297/

And I'm not a techie , I am not into hacking, I had no clue how he sold his company to Red Hat and probably made a lotta money - well he's definitely successful. 

I looked through his presentation and sat through his talk thinking did he sit down and create a brand? Did he spend sleepless nights fussing over logos?

Maybe he did - but think about this - your customer doesn't see all this when he sees you and your brand is a reflection of you. 

You are your brand's real zeal. You are the real zeal. 

When I sat through his story, he could be selling lemonade to me and calling it "yuckywater" and I would want to buy it. 

Why?

Passion - he made techie stuff sound interesting to me, he had my attention, he connected. He said the product he was creating felt like creating a "religion" how cool is that?

Can you do that?

I'm sure it will work. 

Now this doesn't mean you give insipiring talks to your customers, it just means that if you are able to get your brand to reflect your zeal, your customer's gonna see that and he's going to get hooked on to it. 

Am I beginning to sound like a consultant?

Well just do this - be passionate about your brand, try to create a religion in stead of doing mundane stuff. What all do you need - you need something - a cause, an idol, a God - who is so greater than the commoners that he/ she / it needs to be worshipped, you're so in love with that God that you feel like sharing it with everyone and you feel everyone needs a piece of it to experience heaven. 

Hope you're getting all this. 

Step by step how to create your logo

The creative agency route - the key requirement here is - commitment & willingness to participate in a relationship

1. Set a budget - so you look for an agency you can afford 
2. Prepare a detailed brief : http://www.logocritiques.com/resources/the_creative_brief_questions_to_ask_before_designing_a_logo/
3. Hire an agency 
4. Work with them - don't expect them to create magic if you aren't playing the part of a good audience 

Crowd source route - the key requirement here is - knowing what you want 

Try places like http://99designs.com/  where you can get multiple freelance design professionals to pitch a logo to you based on the directions you provide them. 

There is a designer at every price point and you are likely to get some awesome results without the commitment levels required in the traditional creative agency route. 

Its called crowd source because you get a creative crowd to create your logo and you source it from them at a price that you're comfortable paying.

The DIY route - they key requirement here is - self confidence, clarity & positivity

1. Treat yourself as a creative agency - expect an outcome from your efforts
2. Fill out the brief and keep it at eye level / hands reach at all times
3. Work with a software and with tools you're comfortable with - this could be pen & paper. Try a blank white paper and create your image. Import it to photoshop or paint and make the background transparent. Voila ! Just go for it - don't let negative thoughts bog you down. 
4. Get inspired - look through your fav brands logos
5. Take the plunge!

Happy logo creation - do write to us for direction, guidance etc 

Much ado about a-doodle : Your Logo

What is a logo?  ( apart from being an owned brand element)
A logo is a condensed, "sharper - stronger - smarter" version of your brand promise. It visually communicates what your brand is all about.
It tells your target customer - what you see is what you get.
You can't create a memorable brand if you can't make your customers "see" what you mean. On a separate note if you're wondering about the visually impaired - the kind of logo that usually connects your brand with your audience is typically the kind of logo that is most "talked" about / most shared by the viewer.
It forms a permanent connection, a hyper link to your brand in your target customer's mind.

Snap Shot - Name your own product !

Brand Elementary - Naming your product

Clearly, this is an important step in brand building. At this stage your product could have passed the prototype stage and entered the test stage - you want to introduce it to your test market or you've cleared the stage by calling it " it " and now you want to launch it to a broader audience - you need to give it a name.
Snap out of the paralysis of "Name-a-lysis" and just get down to it, here are some easy steps

1. Study your product class - e.g. if your product is an energy drink - study all products that can be called an energy drink - what kind of names have worked? how are they similar or different?
2. Get to know the kind of  people you expect will buy your products - youngsters wouldn't want " Energium 20" - masculine men wouldn't want to hang out with "pinkfest" -
3. Study names of products almost like your product - what are they called? What has worked?
4. Ask yourself - what is different about my product, how would I like it to be perceived?
5. Discuss and " co - think (tm) "
6. Test the name for trade markability, uniqueness, consumer affinity, memorability, recall-ability and fitment to desired perception

All clear? That's your product name, now its a brand. Check the graphic for some suggested routes....

Snap Shot - Brand a person

Brand a person

You are a / an - athlete, life coach, professor, independent financial consultant - you get it.
If what you do = who you are = what your brand is then you can use the following steps

1. Google yourself - do you see books authored by you, your professional profile on your own website and on other professional networks like linkedin, blogs written by you, comments on blogs and forums where your clients express themselves, videos of seminars conducted by you, positive news / word of mouse about you? Work on this. Its essential to talk about yourself.
2. Be yourself - you need a unique identity, you must offer some unique value which your clients cannot get from any other professional. Introspect, create, celebrate and articulate your uniqueness
3. Get noticed - by clients, peers and the market in which you operate
4. Influence - keep widening your circle of influence by participating and putting yourself out there - this could mean attending industry events, actually meeting people with your ideas and your thoughts 
5. Be nice  -  its nice to be important but its more important to be nice / handsome is as handsome does 

Brand a service

What are services - educational institute, hotel, airline, hospital, car cleaning and so on. How to identify a service - cannot be touched but can be felt / experienced, cannot be physically preserved like a pen but has an effect e.g. a hair styling service or say an educational institute

How do you brand something like this?

1. What are your values? oops! big word - what would you rather be caught doing when the head lights are on your brand? When in doubt, go for being  "trustworthy and reliable" . When in an out of the box mood go for "being bold". Fill this up I would like to do my business in a _______ manner / I would rather be known as a _________ brand.
2. Communicate relevantly - do your clients care about your values? If you don't know, find out what's relevant to them and see if you can shape up accordingly. If they do care about the way you do your business, talk to them. 
3. Remind at the right time - when do you think about laundry service? When you're facing a stubborn stain. Invest your efforts in identifying these moments in your client's life and be a part of their life. 
4. Deliver - your clients should be able to answer these :  XYZ inc does its business in a ______ manner / is a ______ company. XYZ is relevant to me because _______ 
5. Celebrate credentials - make your clients talk about you, talk to others about what they're saying about you and your work - do noteworthy work and talk about it. 

Snapshot - Build Product Brand

Build your product's brand in simple steps 

Building a brand for a product

Objective : Hook the audience ( consider to buy  >> buy once >> continue to buy)

Here are some steps for this

1. Identify a unique hook : Latch on to a unique product feature. E.g. your pen (product) uses organic ink unlike other pens available (unique feature). Hooked! Product too generic? Check if you can differentiate on after sales service or any other added purchase benefits. If yes, that's your hook. If no, differentiate on your consumer's emotional experience of using the product.
2. Shape up suitably : Develop brand elements matched to your consumer's life, the hook, competitor ( you have to be different), your market (ice to eskimo case), your product (obviously), your company, your employees ( weird mascot on uniform case) 
3. Communicate : What - Your hook and what does your brand stand for. How - first advertise or reach out to your consumer in anyway you like and then listen/ gather as much feedback as possible through research. Why - Has your consumer noticed you? What does he think about you? 
4. Deliver & continue to do so : You've said it! Now live up to it each time your consumer experiences you he is expecting you to deliver your promise
5. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself" : keep tabs on your competition, on how your brand is evolving over time. Is this time to enter a new market? Are you still relevant? Can you improve? Can you communicate more often? Check !

Who are you?

The path you select while building a brand may vary based on who you are.
Try completing this sentence for your brand
I'm a product / service/ company/ independent professional
Based on the path you've chosen we can share few practical basics on building your brand.
It is important to understand the nature of your pursuit to shape your brand building journey.

Elements of a brand

How do you communicate that your product / service is different from all other similar products / services in the category or market in which you operate?
You name it, sign it, symbolize it, in other words you create unique outwards marks of identity.
Lets take an example
You are selling sports wear T shirts.
What is your brand?  your answer should be something like - my brand promises style to professional sportsmen and sport to non professionals.
You might ask me to buy it off the shelf in a clothing store where there are multiple brands, how do I identify your brand?
Here you explain your brands elements - logo, name, color, symbol, sign, tagline etc
These elements are to be created by either you or you can hire a professional creative agency to create these elements for your brand.
You must be involved in this exercise because this is would need to represent what your brand and your business stands for. It would visually or audibly communicate your unique identity to your target customer and the market at large.  

What is a brand

A brand is a promise to your customer.
When the customer buys your product / service over your competitors' , your brand promises a unique value which makes your offering compelling to your brand's target audience.
You use a brand to communicate this unique value proposition. You can use your brand to allow the consumer to relate unique associations to your product / service.
Consider your brand as a hyperlink to a consumer's field of experience with your product/ service.

Brand my own business !!

Attention all small business owners, entrepreneurs and brand builders, this is the place where you can come to get your brand building fix.
Our team will start from the basics and handhold you through your brand building journey.
We invite you to communicate with us along the way and add to this experience.