Last week I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of founders and graduates from the Lead to Win and Lead to Win Women program led by Dr. Tony Baletti at Carleton University. As a previous participant in the program myself, it was great to reconnect with alumni and new founders of some incredible companies.
The topic of my talk was valuing your brand as currency. In fact my approach to branding is to treat it like your own currency whether it be your personal or your company brand. As soon as you relate something with money suddenly we are more conscious of its value.
When some people think of a brand they think of airy fairy creatives making pretty graphics. When you think of your brand as your personal or company currency it starts taking on new meaning and a brand becomes so much more than the imagery that represents you. It becomes a holistic view of your business with many factors making up the public perception.
A brand , like currency gets attention if it is soaring high in value. Your customers love you, your products are great, your imagery is stellar and everyone recognizes you wherever you virtually and physically are. This type of brand is newsworthy and highly visible. When your brand is at this level of value, it’s time to capitalize on ithat value and seize the opportunity to release great products, increase your customer base , make strategic announcements and even give back to the community.
If your brand currency is hovering somewhere in the middle and of average value you are probably getting lost in the crowd and is most certainly not newsworthy. Having a mediocre brand currency value is pretty much the kiss of death because from a public perception point of view, there is nothing that makes your brand any different than the next one in your space. Remembering that public perception doesn’t always have to do with reality, it is all about how the brand is presented and perceived.
Finally if your brand currency is low in value, you will undoubtedly get noticed, but for all the wrong reasons. Not only that but the perception of a crappy brand could actually devalue anything great you do have going on or have to offer like fabulous products, a great team, or incredible skills. It is also hard to recover from having a craptastic brand and getting it from low to high value because the public perception already exists.
Your brand goes well beyond a logo or imagery and encapsulates culture, values, attitude, communications and of course your products and services. Your visuals need to be super high quality, easily recognizable, not too complex and have 100% alignment with everything that makes up your brand. Your tagline something that not only supports what you do but is fun to say and easy to repeat. Capitalizing on the value of word of mouth campaigns is the least costly and generates a huge return when done correctly. Remember, people do business with people, not logos, not products, not corporations so any information about your company or brand that is passed on from one person to another has the potential for high ROI or the opposite end of the spectrum.
Finally your product quality an ability to delight your customer will seal the deal and increase the value of your brand currency. Even if you have a good product, good imagery, good tagline and everything seems well…good…you can put it well over the top by providing the extra level of service to your ideal customer. Just when you think you have it finished and everything is delivered…go that extra mile to delight, invest in quality and differentiate what you have to offer from the clouded market.
As you know I’m am not a fan of just preaching, I have some things for you to do! If you are feeling bold about your brand, here are some action items on how you can create or increase the value of your brand currency
Did you like this post? Do you know a brand who can use a kick in the tuckus? Share this article with your network and lets increase the value of brand currency!
Do you know the value of your brand currency? @AVV talks all about making your brand newsworthy on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/bvK3y
Increase the value of your Brand Currency with @AVV on #Mentormondays http://ow.ly/bvK3y
Increase the value of your brand by treating it like Brand Currency with @avv on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/bvK3y
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Anastasia Valentine is an award-winning product strategist, CEO of a fabulous marketing and PR agency, speaker, published author and mother. She has over 20 years achieving amazing results in bringing ideas and products to market in the high-tech, music and retail industries.
She works directly with amazing solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and small, medium and enterprise-class companies across the globe. Her approach combines her knowledge, skills and experience fueled with her drive, a little tenacity and a lot of moxie to launch and build businesses! Visit Anastasia at www.anastasia-valentine.com
This is a great post about clarifying why your brand is so much more than your logo . . . in fact, after reading this, I think it might be a good idea to do a brand review every year, just to make sure you’re still embodying what you wanted your brand to be when you first invented it! I did branding about a year ago, but your action steps reminded me to re-align myself and check in to make sure it’s reflecting my current reality!
This is a great reminder that our brand is so much more than just our logo, our website or any individual part of our business. It’s not even our business itself. It’s us as a whole!
“Just when you think you have it finished and everything is delivered…go that extra mile to delight, invest in quality and differentiate what you have to offer from the clouded market.”
Yes – as a brand we must be prepared to stand out, show our true selves and be the best.
Is it Sunday?!? Preach woman preach!
Really LOVE what you’re saying here. It’s so important to clearly represent yourself / biz everywhere you go, on line and off.
‘Remembering that public perception doesn’t always have to do with reality, it is all about how the brand is presented and perceived.’ So true.
Pouring attention into your brand, and doing so consciously….will help everything fall into place. I’ve found this happen with my own brand work. When you dig deep and understand where you’re coming from you’ll find ‘tag lines’ everywhere and clarity is abundant. But you have to do the work! Holistically.
Great post girl!
xoxo
I love the idea of being your brand all day, every day.
Makes total sense and yet I am not sure I embody it all the time. I just recently made the BIG decision to revamp my brand to be a truly creative, premium offering. I am combining elements that I have not see done yet. Its scary and after I made the jump, I felt frightened.
But fear not, that was temporary. Here I come, premium VISIBLE brand!
(hugs)sarah
Word! … well said.
This is something that is overlooked often. A business expects to get top dollar, but they brand out like bargain basement! One of the problems I have run into is that after years of expensive advertising, we gain brand recognition…then everything needs to be updated. It can be a challenge to retain the recognition while revising and updating the brand. (There’s an idea for your next blog!) Thanks for the post! …PS I love the tagline suggestion!
These are great branding guidelines. Very practical and actionable. This is one of the best encapsulations of how to brand that I’ve seen.
One thing I like to think of in terms of branding is how my customers want to feel. I’ve just realized that what they want is sensible exotic. As I go into the redesign of my site and etc, I’m going to run it through that filter.
This is in line with my belief that I’m my own billboard 24/7. Every interaction must reflect the value I place in myself and others as I am my business. Ultimately, my brand is my authentic self and that’s what we take out into the world to attract others to our work.
Wow! What a great summary of how to brand yourself. Yes, branding is so much more than a logo or a perfectly crafted tagline.
Be the brand you want to portray and behave like you wish to be perceived. – Love this.
As I continue to re-brand myself I’m definitely going to be bold and run my brand through your – how to create a high level brand checklist! Great post!
Great tips on branding. I love the action steps you listed. I think that branding really is an area of your business that it is great to have an inner circle to help give you feedback! I especially love the reminder to be 100% consistent in our branding no matter where we are!
Genius! I’ve wanted to update my tagline for over a year now because it doesn’t reflect the high value my clients receive. I’ve been overwhelmed by the idea of finding the “right” tagline….I haven’t even tried to brainstorm a new one. Thanks for shaking me out of fear and moving me into action with my tagline.