Brand is a business tool

Brand is a really valuable business tool, but so often it's overlooked by companies. I think the reason for this is that you can't see it, or touch it. Yes, you can see a logo (but a logo's not a brand). Yes, you can touch a product, or the staff delivering a service (but not every business considers their product or staff as part of the brand).

Brand is seen as something etherial, something intangible. But this video that I came across last week has a different perspective. It's looking at the role of design in innovation, and arguing the business case. There are some interesting ideas to consider...

Design's Role in Innovation from Design Council on Vimeo.

Now, design is not brand, if you're thinking of design as creating a new logo, for example. But if you think of design as fundamental to creating the structure of a business, to giving meaning to the products and services on offer, to the strategy of a business, then that's a very different proposition. It that instance I think the word design and the word brand are interchangeable.

So, with that in mind, here are the three things that stuck out for me:
The origin of the word 'design'. From the Latin 'designare' - to designate. To give things meaning. If you think of your logo, and the other elements of your visual identity, they are all there to give meaning to your company. To be more than just colours, shapes and words. To make your company more than just a provider of a product or service... So do they? What is the meaning behind your business? Or are you just a provider of a product or service?

Design (brand) is about giving people what they need whether or not they know they need it. Brand isn't always about answering questions. Sometimes it's about asking them. Why don't you do it this way? How useful would it be to have this product? Just look at Apple. They've built an empire on giving consumers what they need, not asking them what they want. They've developed a loyal customer base by focusing on customer needs. So look at your customers. Do you give them what they need? Or do you just give them what they want?

The storm is the time to fish. I love this Inuit proverb! When the environment is at it's worst it's very tempting to stay somewhere safe and familiar. But the opportunities are still out there, if you want them. Harder to get to, certainly. But they're still there, and there's probably less competition to catch them. So what are you going to do? Jump in your canoe, brave the icy waves and going looking for the fish? Or stay somewhere comfortable and hope the fish come to you?


So when you look at your business and your brand do you see something tangible? Does your brand make a positive impact on your bottom line every month? Or is it just a logo on your business card? Or some ideas bouncing round your head?

Get tough (and prosper)

As a business owner you have to be ready (and able) to make some tough decisions. One of the first is: 'Who is my target market?'. It was this question that got some interesting discussion going at our seminar last week.



We had quite a few new businesses in the audience last week, so the question of identifying - and then reaching - your target market was high on the agenda. The question asked was, 'I need to appeal to several different audiences, because I'm a new business and I need as much work as I can get. How can I do it?'.

The simple answer: 'You can't.'

Identify your ideal customer, and sell to them. Develop messages and communication channels that target them - specifically. Because they will make your business a success*. That's why they're 'ideal'. You need to be picky. Most businesses - new or old (or anywhere in between) - don't have the resources to target 'everybody'. So you need to choose.

(*Whatever characteristics your ideal customer has, the fundamental one - which applies to every business - has to be that gaining their custom will generate sufficient income for your business to grow. If they can't do that for you, they're not ideal, however attractive they may be in other ways).


So come on, get tough. If you want to be successful you need to know who will take you there. And ignore those who won't (for the time being at least!).

To learn more about reaching your ideal customers, you might like to join us at one of our free seminars: Unlock the value of your brand. It would be great to meet you!

Brand Tip: What do customers want?

It's not really important what your customers want. What's more important is what they need.

Of course initially you have to give them what want - you want to engage with them. But to build a long-term relationship, you must give them what they need. Take a lesson from Henry Ford:

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

So look at your customers. What do they need? If you don't know, find out. Then tell them. They'll love you for it. And if your customers love what you do for them, they've got no reason to go anywhere else.

If you'd like to know more about building long-term relationships with your clients, you might be interested in one of our free seminars: Unlock the value of your brand.


Read more about Customer Focus here.

Stay focused

If you want to be desirable, you need to stay focused. That's one of the lessons to take from a recent study asking British consumers which brands they most desired. (You can read about the survey here). According to the study, one of the attributes of a desirable brand is a simple proposition - clarity about the values they stand for.

It seems simple. But it's a brave step to take. Because to have real clarity of message and offer, you are targeting one sector of the market - and excluding the other.

The example used in the article is Bang & Olufsen (19th on the list). They produce high-end, high quality products... with a high price. That's their positioning, and they don't deviate from it. They focus on quality. And therefore exclude anyone who can't, or won't, pay for that level of quality.

Another example of a very focused (and successful) brand is Apple. They have four (yes, four!) entries in the top 20 (The iPhone, iPod, iTunes, and the Apple brand itself). Different products, but the same values - the same proposition - behind each one: great user experience. That's a customer focused brand. Everything about the Apple brand is focused on the user experience. (We've written about this before).

So take a look at your business. What's your proposition? What do you stand for? What benefit do you give to your clients? If you can focus on the answers to those questions, your customers will focus their attention on you.

If you'd like to know more about those questions - and their answers - you might be interested in our free seminar.

Your brand - where's the passion?

Are your clients passionate about what you do for them? They should be!

There's a great marketing campaign running at the moment: 14 days of love. It's run by The Best of ('the ultimate guide to your local area') in the run-up to Valentines Day, and encourages local business to ask their customers to vote for them, to see who is the most loved local business.

What I like about 14 days of love is the focus on emotion. The passion. Do your customers love your business? There's not enough focus on emotion in business. Too often emotion is seen as a weakness in business - and certainly it can be in some circumstances. But when it comes to customers, emotion is vital.

Understanding the role of emotion in winning customers could be the difference between making a sale and losing one. As BMW said in a recent advert: "What you make people feel, is just as important as what you make". Understanding how to make that emotional connection with your customers is key to success. I've highlighted a couple of examples before; from BMW and the RAC.

If you want to stand out from your competitors think about your customers. How do they want to feel? What are there emotional needs? If you get that right, not only will you win more new customers, you'll also hang on to your exiting ones!

So come on, get passionate. Show your customers you care, and they'll love you for it!


If you're struggling to put the passion in your brand you might be interested in one of our free seminars: Unlock the value of your brand.

Brand tip: Get to know your customer

Without your customers you have no business. So take the time to get to know them. It's polite. And they'll appreciate it. How will they show their appreciation? They will buy more of what you're selling.

So what do you need to do? You need to learn two things about your customers:
• Who they are
• What they want

Who they are
It doesn't matter who you sell to - businesses or consumers - get to know them. You should be able to described them, in detail. (You can read more about that here). And when you know who they are, you can find out...

What they want
The important thing to remember is your customers aren't really interested in what you're selling - they're only interested in what it will do for them. They're only interested in the benefit it will bring to them or their business.

So take a look at your customers and ask yourself:
• Who are they?
• What do they want?

If you'd like to find the answers, and why that's important, you might be interested in one of our free seminars. They have been developed to help you unlock the value of your brand.

Here are a few examples of companies that do understand their customers, from The RAC, Apple and BMW. And you can read more about being customer focused here.

Like Minds. Brand lesson #1: Focus

Last week saw the Like Minds Autumn 2010 conference take place in Exeter again. It was another great event. There was great debate, discussion and insight. Lots to take away. But I just want to share a few things that caught my attention. A few lessons that businesses can apply to their brand and brand strategy.

Brand lesson #1: Focus on your customers
In a busy environment focus can be a real challenge, and this was the point that stood out for me in the keynote presentation on Friday afternoon from Karren Brooks. She described the scenario of going into a meeting with a client, and the importance of being fully focused on what you need to achieve. But in that scenario you're competing with whatever else is going on in your clients head; the phone call they have just had, their next appointment, domestic issues... the list is endless.

If you look at virtually any business, they face exactly the same challenge: competing for their customers head-space. So how do you do it? In the final keynote on Friday, Robin Wight (@RobinWightUK), told us that, on average, we are bombarded by 3000 messages every day. With so much competition, how do you get your audience to listen to you?

Well, this is where 'focus' comes in. There are two things you need to focus on: Who are your audience? and What do they want to hear?

Who are your audience?
The answer to this isn't 'everyone' or 'anyone'. Or 'businesses' or 'consumers'. It should be a very specific description. If it's a business you might specify size, sector, turnover, location, age etc. For a consumer it might be age, gender, location, income, profession, the car they drive, the newspaper they read. The people you want to focus on are those that are most valuable to you. So take a look at your existing customers and figure out who they are.

What do they want to hear?
Now that you know who you want to talk to, you can work out what they want to hear. That last bit's important: What they want to hear. It's very different from: What you want to tell them. Your audience is only interested in services or products that will provide some benefit for them. Not benefit for other people - benefit for them. So you need to have a very clear understanding of what benefit your products or services provide. And they're not interested in what you do, just in how it benefits them. Your audience is very self-centred. Very focused. So you need to be too.

And the reason why? The more focused you are on who your audience are and what they want to hear, the more easily you will be able to sell to them. That should save you time and money, and give you a better return on your investment.

So, if you want to develop your focus, take a look at your brand. Brand is all about focus. Focus on your business, your audience and your relationship with them.

If you'd like to take a look at your brand, you might be interested in one of our free seminars.

So what works for you? What brand or company manages to get your attention? And how do they do it? Let me know, I'd be really interested to find out.

As seen on TV... Part 5

Not a great advert for Rochdale this week on Mary Queen of Shops. Lots of footage of bleak streets and empty shops. But another interesting lesson about brand, specifically:

Brand positioning and delivering the brand promise.

This week we visited a hair salon in Rochdale - John Peers - that had enjoyed its heyday in the 80's and 90's, but was now in steady decline. At the height of his success John had established his salon and positioned it at the top end of the market, with prices to match. But overtime he had lost his enthusiasm, attention to detail and customer-focus (see last weeks post), and the salon was struggling.

Now, positioning is really important, and tied very closely to your customer focus. Think of Mercedes. Everything about their brand: the product (and its price), their staff, their showrooms and the way they communicate these, reflects luxury. They clearly position themselves as a premium, top-end brand, aimed at a very specific customer. They make a promise to that customer, and they deliver it.

The reason John Peers salon struggled was because he made a promise, but failed to deliver.

The interesting thing was, when Mary went in with her team of experts, she repositioned the salon, and actually moved it down a notch or two. Because that was where she identified there was a market (again, customer focus). And because the positioning was revised, and realistic, the salon was able to deliver on the promise they made to those customers. (If anything, they over delivered - a great way to develop customer loyalty and a high level of word-of-mouth referral).

You don't need to position yourself at the top-end of the market. You just have to be sure that you deliver on the promise you make. So what's your brand promise? And do you deliver?

If you'd like to have a chat about developing your brand promise, email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk or call 01392 248107.

As seen on TV... Part 4

This week: Customer Focus

You must understand who your customers are, and what they want. If you don't know who they are, you will never be able to find them.

This week on Mary Queen of Shop we met a couple who were stuck somewhere on the early 70's, and their interiors shop had the stock to match. But not 'good' 70's interiors - stuff that defies description. Needless to say, they were shoveling their pensions and savings into a bottomless pit. And then along came Mary...

Their problem was that they didn't know who they were selling to. The customer they were targeting didn't exist (which was obviously why they weren't selling anything). Once again, with the help of a team of experts, Mary was able to point out the error of their ways, and turn it into a viable business, with a healthy customer base.

But it's not just out-dated interiors shops that lose sight of who their customer is. Lots of businesses experience the same problem, and you can (usually) put them in one of two groups:
1/ New businesses eager for customers
2/ Established businesses that have, over time, forgotten who their customers are.

New business
Every new business needs new customers, so they often try to sell to everybody. But the problem is, not everybody needs, or wants, their product or service. And because their message is too broad, to try and attract everybody, it isn't actually relevant to anybody. So nobody buys.

Established business
An established business has established customers that buys an established range or products or services. The problem arises when business becomes too focused on the product or service that they offer, and forget to focus on the customer. As needs of the customers move on (this could be driven by technology, culture, behaviour etc.), the company finds they have a dwindling pool of customers, and a declining turnover.

Identify who your customers are, and build a brand that will attract them to you. A brand that is relevant to their current needs, and anticipates their future needs. (It's an extreme example, but think of Apple). When you do this, not only will you bring in new customers, but you will also retain the loyalty of your existing ones.

If you'd like to have a chat about developing the customer-focus of your business, email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk or call 01392 248107.

What's your brand promise?

So, have you seen one? Touched one?... Even bought one? Or do you even care?

The ipad hit the UK last Friday, with a tsunami of media coverage (There were more than 10 articles on The Guardian website on Friday alone). Whether it's left you feeling envious or apathetic, it poses a really interesting question for business owners: What's your brand promise?

With Apple you know exactly what you'll get: Customer Focus. Their entire business is focused on communicating that message. They promise a customer focused experience, and most importantly, they deliver it. So when people look at your business, what do they see? What's your brand promise?

If you look at Apple, their brand promise has always been clear. From the early days in the 80's with their user-friendly operating system and interface, to the products we see today, Apple have consistently focused on their customers, and what they want. (It's important to recognise the difference between want and need. Customers didn't need an ipod or an ipad, but now they've created them, customers want them).

As a manufacturer, the product is fundamental to this customer focus, and this is where Apple really excel, from the early days of the Mac OS and it's friendly icons, to the simplicity of the iphone and ipad touch screens, their products are the heroes of the brand.

And they take every opportunity to reinforce that. They take each of the brand touch points (your product/service; your people; your communications; your working environment), and they exploit every one, to deliver that brand promise. As we've said, the product epitomises this; beautifully designed with a user-friendly interface. (For a great insight into the innovation of the ipad, take a look at this post from Scott Gould). The people in the Apple Stores know the products, and help you to get to know them. And at the Apple Store in Exeter on Friday they were on hand to help you get to know the ipad, with the minimum of fuss. Their communication strategy takes the product and puts it into the hands of the customer. And that's almost all you see!



Whether it's the poster campaign on the London Underground, or their TV slots, the product is the hero - in the hands of the customer. (And to maximise the customer focus, the viewer's perspective is often the user's perspective - looking down on the product, as if you were holding it).



Then there's the working environment - the Apple Stores (physical or online). These are palaces to the brand heroes (Look at the current home page!). There's virtually nothing else in the Stores apart from the products. But not just a few display items. Oh no. This where you meet the heroes. lots of them. Face to face. A real hands on experience. What better way to encourage someone to buy than put the thing in their hands?

So what have we learnt? That one of the world's great brands has a very polished sales and marketing strategy? We knew that already (how many people do you know with an iphone?). What we can learn from Apple is this:
• Define your brand promise (e.g. Customer focus)
• Focus your entire brand on delivering that promise (e.g. Use every touch point possible)

It doesn't matter what you sell, or who you sell it to. Whether you have a budget of millions or hundreds. If you want to get the best return on your investment in your brand, follow Apple's example. What's your brand promise? How will that add value to your business? What opportunities do you have to deliver that promise?

If you'd like to have a chat about your brand, and how it can add value to your business, call us on 01392 248107, or email: jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk. It would be great to hear from you.