The Business Side of Branding: How The Boardroom Should Approach Their Brand

 The business side of branding is arguably the most important part of building a strong brand. This is because it's the boardroom that decides where and how to allocate company funds and, therefore, what kind of brand you're going to have.

If you're a small business or start-up, this means that your brand won't be as large or impactful as some of your competitors—but that doesn't mean that you can't make a name for yourselves. In fact, if you have a clear understanding of what makes your brand different from other brands in your industry, then it's possible that your product will be more desirable than theirs due to its uniqueness.

This post will discuss how boards should approach their brand in order to ensure success on both the marketing and production fronts.

Defining your brand 

 When you're in the boardroom, you're probably not thinking about what your brand is. You're thinking about how to make this quarter's sales numbers look good, or how to beat out that new competitor who's moving into your market. But if you don't have a clear idea of what your brand is and where it stands in the marketplace, you can't expect anyone else—from coworkers to customers—to know either.

Branding is the process of creating a unique identity for your company. It's about more than just a logo—it's about your company's values, vision, and mission, as well as how you express those things to your customers and potential customers. A strong brand strategy helps you define these things and make decisions on behalf of your organization that will have a positive impact on your business.

1. Identify your target audience: Who are you trying to reach with your brand? Understanding your target audience will help you tailor your brand message and positioning to appeal to them.
2. Develop a unique value proposition: What sets your brand apart from competitors? Your unique value proposition should clearly articulate the benefits and features of your product or service and why it is better than what is already on the market.
3. Create a consistent visual identity: Your visual identity includes elements such as your logo, color palette, and typography. These elements should be used consistently across all of your marketing materials to create a cohesive brand image.
4. Define your brand voice: Your brand voice is the tone and style of your communications. It should be consistent across all channels and reflect your brand's personality and values.
5. Be authentic: Your brand should be true to who you are and what you stand for. Don't try to be something you're not or make false promises. Be authentic and transparent in your interactions with customers.

Developing a brand identity 

 Developing a brand identity is an ongoing process that requires input from everyone in the company. The boardroom should be involved in this process because their experience and expertise will help the company develop a brand identity that resonates with their customers.

This also involves creating an image that will represent your company in order to ensure that customers recognize your products or services when they see them advertised or used in public spaces like shopping malls or restaurants. This can include everything from logo designs all the way down to packaging materials and promotional items like shirts and pens.

1. Research your competition: Look at what other companies in your industry are doing in terms of their branding and identity. This will give you a sense of what's already out there and help you identify opportunities to differentiate yourself.
2. Create a brand story: Your brand story is the narrative that describes your brand's origins, purpose, and values. It should be compelling and resonate with your target audience.
3. Develop brand guidelines: Brand guidelines are a set of rules and standards for how your brand should be presented. They should include detailed instructions on how to use your visual identity, as well as your brand voice and messaging.
4. Be consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to branding. Make sure that all of your communications and marketing materials are consistent with your brand's story, visual identity, and voice. This will help build trust and recognition with your audience.

Understanding your target market

Next, it's important for the boardroom to understand who their target market is. This means defining who their ideal customer is—not just by age group, but also by other variables such as gender or income level. You need to understand who you're targeting with your product or service so that you can create messaging that resonates with them.

It's important for business owners not only to understand what type of people they're trying to reach with their products or services but also why those people would want them over other options available out there today. Once you've identified who these potential buyers might be, then start thinking about the best way possible to get them interested in buying something from/using something offered by your business. 

1. Define your target audience: Identify the specific group of people that you are trying to reach with your brand. Consider factors such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and pain points.
2. Conduct market research: Collect data on your target market through surveys, focus groups, and other research methods. This will provide valuable insights into their preferences, needs, and motivations.
3. Analyze your competition: Look at what other companies in your industry are doing and how they are positioning themselves in the market. This will give you a sense of the competitive landscape and help you identify opportunities to differentiate yourself.
4. Monitor industry trends: Keep an eye on industry trends and developments to stay up-to-date on what's happening in your market. This will help you identify emerging opportunities and adjust your strategy as needed.
5. Engage with your audience: Interact with your target audience through social media, email marketing, and other channels to get feedback and learn more about their needs and preferences. This will help you refine your brand positioning and messaging.

Setting goals and objectives for your brand

​Once you've defined your brand and know your target audience, it's time to set some goals. You can include this on your meeting agendas during the board meeting so everyone can discuss your brand's goals and objectives and make sure everyone on your team understands their roles in achieving those goals.

These goals are driven by the mission statement we discussed in the first one—they're about what kind of impact the company wants to make in their industry on a larger scale. Setting these kinds of goals helps you focus your efforts on what really matters without getting bogged down in day-to-day tasks or distracted by shiny objects (or competitors).

Remember, if there are multiple priorities within your organization, then it can be difficult to know where to begin—but if you set goals and objectives first, then everything else will fall into place around them!  There are many different software tools that you can use to set and track smart goals. Some popular options include Trello, AgilityPortal, Monday.com, and Basecamp. These tools allow you to create and organize SMART goals, and track progress towards achieving your goals. They also often have features for collaboration and communication, which can be helpful for teams working together to achieve their goals. 

1. Identify your overall business objectives: What do you want to achieve with your business? Your brand goals and objectives should support and align with your overall business goals.
2. Define your target audience: Who are you trying to reach with your brand? Understanding your target audience will help you tailor your brand goals and objectives to their needs and preferences.
3. Conduct market research: Collect data on your target market through using google trends
4. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals: Your brand goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, a specific goal might be to increase brand awareness among your target audience by 20% in the next six months.
5. Develop a plan to achieve your goals: Once you have set your brand goals, create a plan to achieve them. This should include specific tactics and strategies, as well as benchmarks and metrics to track your progress.
6. Monitor and evaluate your progress: Regularly monitor and evaluate your progress towards achieving your brand goals. This will help you identify any challenges or obstacles and make adjustments as needed.

Creating a brand strategy

​This is an essential part of the process for building a strong brand. A brand strategy should include how you plan to reach your target audience, where you plan on selling your products or services, and what differentiates one product or service from another product or service. This can also include things like pricing, marketing materials, and content, etc.

You should outline all of your plans for executing each one of your goals. It should include information about what makes your company special, as well as how its mission fits into the larger context of the industry in which it operates. 

Developing this document helps everyone involved understand what needs to happen in order for everything to go smoothly down the line.

Focusing on the customer experience

The goal of any business is to provide excellent customer service and quality products or services at reasonable prices. If you can't do those three things well, then there's no point in trying to build a brand presence—you won't be able to keep up with other companies who are doing those things better than you are.

Focusing on the customer experience is also a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors, especially if they're all selling similar products or services. The boardroom should help define what makes your company unique and different from others in its industry so that customers know why they should choose you over everyone else out there. 

1. Map out the customer journey: The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with your brand, from awareness to purchase and beyond. Map out the different touchpoints in the customer journey and identify opportunities to enhance the customer experience at each stage.
2. Implement customer-centric changes: Based on your research and customer journey mapping, implement changes to your business to improve the customer experience. This might include changes to your product or service, customer service processes, or marketing and sales approach. Monitor and evaluate the impact of these changes to continue improving the customer experience.

Maintaining your brand consistency

 Your boardroom needs to make sure that all of your employees are working together toward one goal - building a consistent brand identity. This means that everyone from the CEO down through every department should be conscious of how their actions impact the company as a whole.

Besides, your brand must be consistent across all marketing channels so that anyone who encounters it will know immediately that it belongs to you. Whether it's through social media posts or ads in magazines, the message must remain consistent no matter where it's being presented—and if there's any doubt about whether or not something belongs to you, then fix it until there isn't any question left.

It's important to know that if there are any major inconsistencies between departments or teams within the company, this could lead to disaster when it comes time for marketing campaigns or new product launches!

Conclusion  

When it comes to branding, it's important to remember that your brand is not just a logo or a tagline. It's the total of all the decisions you've made about how you want your company to look, sound, and feel—and it's a constant process of refinement.

The boardroom should approach their brand by being aware of how they're perceived by others. You should also make sure you're consistent in your messaging so that you can build trust with customers and other stakeholders.

Your company should have a strong brand identity that's reliable across all channels, from your website to your social media posts and even the way you answer the phone. Your brand is an asset that can help you attract new customers and retain old ones, so make sure it's working as hard as it can for you!