The Importance of Branding (part 2)
Jun 22nd, 2007 by jared
In part 1, we covered creating a company name, trademarking it, creating a domain name and keyword brainstorming. I continue with my segment on branding with logo and slogan creation as well as website/collateral design and your corporate culture.
Step 4: Create a logo & slogan
Strategy: Using the keywords you brainstormed, it is much easier to create your logo and slogan, which will be the foundation of your brand. I think everything revolves around the logo because this will dictate the look and feel of your company, such as colors, attitude, spacing, font, size etc.. 
The slogan is important to have with this as well because this could also dictate your attitude and tone. For instance our logo, the mobileStorm “tornado”, has been blue and white for 8 years now.
You will notice our sites main theme is blue and white; our corporate logo has gotten a few face lifts but the feel has remained the same. Our slogan “The Digital Marketing Company” a.) tells people what we do b.) conveys to clients we know this space better than anyone and c.) suggests you shouldn’t even think about looking elsewhere if you want to become a digital marketer.
It’s important you get a great graphic artist to design your logo to make sure it blows people away. I would suggest checking out www.logoworks.com to get a nice design for a good price. When your logo is created, make a page on your site where someone like a partner or client can easily download them in different sizes and file types.
Result: A good logo and slogan are the foundation of your brand. It helps convey who you are and what you provide. It allows someone to recognize you no matter the setting.
Step 5: Design a great website and beautiful collateral
Strategy: Now that you have your company name, domain, logo and slogan, it is time to build a great website and create your market collateral around those assets. I cannot stress enough how important it is that all aspects of your brand bleed through your site and marketing materials. You need to use the same colors, fonts, font sizes, themes and layouts. You want someone to look at your business card and know it is your company as soon as they see it. You need to be very determined and conscience that everything you put out follows your company theme. Never create anything that strays from your look; it could cost you. Check out Elevate Studios to help you come up with a great design - call Larry Bak 312-932-1104.
Result: Even if you don’t have a lot of content at first, a good design will go a long way and will bring you business. From a client’s perspective, having continuity is impressive. and it shows them you pay attention to detail.
Step 6: Get everyone on the same page; build a culture.
Strategy: Once you create your brand, you need to live it. Everyone in your company needs to be on the same page. Your brand needs to be part of your corporate culture. For example, maybe your slogan is “We provide the ultimate customer experience”. This slogan needs to come across the phones at your help desk; it needs to hang on the wall in your showroom, and become part of your advertising. Your sales people need to use it in their pitches; your billing department needs to include it as a footer in their emails.
Result: Having everyone on the same page allows your brand to bleed through all aspects of your company, strengthening the brand itself.
Conclusion -
Your brand is the most valuable asset you can build at first. If you truly want to do things right, I suggest you hire a consultant or firm to help give you some great ideas. This is one area you don’t want to be cheap in, spend the money, it will go a long way.
Jared Reitzin
Great info on this blog
We just started tackling the branding issue. Our sales training company is a non traditional ongoing reinforcement training system so we had to incorporate that into our branding. The slogan simple ended up “180 degrees from traditional sales training” with “sales training for the non sales professional”. We bought a sales training facility and are now in process of the buildout keeping in mind all the branding and logos, where to place them in the space and so on. All this is a farily huge effort but I believe is well worth it.
Thanks Jared for starting this conversation.
Mike Henigman
mike@lrn2sell.com
http://www.lrn2sell.com
Tammy told me you are doing some pretty cool stuff. I would love to know more. Even with a great brand you need a kick ass sales team, that is another thing I will be covering soon. I would love your input.
We are doing some incredible things. Just recently bought new space by OC airport which basically doubles our training facility. Moving in Sept. By first quarter next year we should have webinar and click to view classes. We are in full rebranding mode for the move. What a pain in the butt, especially the wallet. As for kick ass sales teams, we got that aspect of business covered. (btw the way we coach CEO’s and Sales Managers dont get to hide - -bummer)
We can get together and talk about it after Tam and I get back from lounging in Cabo all next week…….. if we come back.
I was lucky to be was taught by Mike Fuller and Nills in my early years! Nills, now Lead Designer for Light Group, made me a business card 6 years ago people still have and comment about. It took me up until 6 months ago to find someone who just gets it. Nils is what I call “The Guy” no matter what he kills it! Yeah you have to adjust stuff but you NEVER look at comps and tell him try again. Having “The Guy” as your designer is everything! Check my current design http://www.groovelink.net and my new site design! Open, Home, Clients, Events.
My new guy Shane Parrish is a branding genius. I think what he produced is perfect for my demographic. Understanding your customer is something you have done better than any other email service, that’s why I’m a super old client that will not go anywhere else.