Millennium Magazine_10th Ed

Create a Plan While planning may seem obvious, you would be surprised to discover that numerous businesses do not have a strategy or plan for their brand. Failure is not guaranteed for those companies, but they do court it more because they do not have goals, tactics or an idea of what they want to represent and inspire in the audience. To combat these ineptitudes, find out what you want your brand to do and discover the steps needed to accomplish those goals. Consider Hiring a Brand Specialist If no one in your team has the right know-how to craft a winning brand, you may have to hire a professional to help you accomplish that goal. Brands are not something you can do or adjust on the fly – you cannot build a brand while simultaneously learning how to do so. What you build will be flawed and, more importantly, difficult to change once it is publicized. Any shift in your color scheme or tone can drastically impact what customers think about when they see your company and can also cause confusion if they see the old and new versions of your brand in the wrong order. Never Stop Improving the Brand A brand is not something you fire and forget. After the initial rush of development, you may put it on maintenance mode, where you only refer to it when planning other aspects of your business. However, the brand itself should never truly be stagnant. Your target market will change and shift, and so must your brand to match them. Keep track of your market. Every now and then, compare how it is changing to your current brand. If your brand still lines up, then great – you have nothing to do. However, if you find that you may no longer elicit the same emotions from your customers, it might be time for a bit of a tweak or even an overhaul. 3 4 5

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