Branding, Branding, Branding!!!!
It’s all about branding in the business world. To ensure growth in your music business or as an entrepreneur, it is essential to craft a great brand. This may sound like a daunting and difficult task, but it is not. Just to shed a little more light and insight into the significance of branding.
According to business dictionary, “[Branding is] the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.” The purpose of branding is to establish an important and Branding aims to establish a significant and unique presence in the market which attracts the right type of consumer or customers for your company.
Do you recognize the logo to your left? What about McDonald? The slogan ‘I’m loving it’ or the red and yellow M sign displayed in front of each location – does it catch your attention. Consider Coca Cola, “Taste the Feeling” and the fancy bottles. These companies have a brand – a marking that distinguish them from their competitors. So what is your brand? What sets your company apart from its competitor? How are you as a musician or artist different than other artists – is it your lyrics, style of songs, or message behind the songs? You want to be remembered.
Whether you are a small business owner with few employees, a single-member LLC, or own a large corporation, leave a lasting impression with the public and your targeted clients. Here are few tips to help you design a great brand as affirmed also by Huong Nguyen, a marketing veteran and brand developer on Entrepreneur mag:
1. Get to the heart of Why? You need to go beyond “what” you build and “how” you do it but get to the heart of the why. Why does your business exist? What did you have in mind when you launched? You may have to go back to your mission statement.
2. Tell me who you are in one sentence: From your brand story will come some amazing one-liners you can leverage in press and bios and possibly even a byline you want to hang your hat on.
3. Create you brand’s identity: Your identity includes the visual elements of your brand. This is everything from communications to logo to colors and fonts, among other components. You’ll be surprised how putting an afternoon into this early on can help the subsequent iterations fall into place faster.
4. Allow your brand to evolve: If people start sharing and connecting with your brand, they might use it in ways you hadn’t planned. They might suggest changes to the logo or create hashtags for you. Don’t shoot them down because they aren’t “on brand.” That stifles the brand and takes away the very lifeblood that breeds brilliant brands. Allow it room to grow.
5. Big Perspective: you do not “define” your brand. You build it, you ship it, you help it grow and participate in how it is received. But you do not “define” it. The best brands in the world take on their own life. Brands may include aspects like your logo, colors, voice and story, but they also end up including a markets reaction, your customers, a greater philosophy, among other things. Great brands end up representing a perspective larger than one company. It just happens to be the company that found and shared the perspective.
Summary:
Your brand is your story. Tell a story to pull the heartstrings of your customers- clear, concise, and unique to your products/services. You’re not going to get it right the first time; however, the draft will evolve into something wonderful that makes it easier to set yourself and your company apart from competitors. Be known for something….even more important, be known for something GREAT.
