The business branding process means different things to different entrepreneurs. At NOX it’s about defining your visual identity, your business character and tone.
So what are BRANDING ACTIONS?
BRANDING ACTION is the most difficult to understand and execute because so many businesses aren’t doing a good job at it. Hence, there are very few GOOD examples to point to. So let’s look at how your actions define your brand, and how NOX Creative can help you refine and brand change actions to provide a greater connection with your customers.
When do you rebrand your business? Local businesses often rebrand themselves after they have seen a great amount of success then watched it dwindle over time. Sometimes larger businesses try to rebrand themselves in response to specific events or to jumpstart an otherwise wanting demand in their product or services. In both of these examples, the core business usually suffers because the creative juices are spent conjuring up marketing ideas rather than concentrating on what made them successful in the first place.
Many businesses shy away from this type of analysis because it tends to offend a business owner’s pride and often challenges some deep ingrained beliefs about the current state of the business.
How do you brand actions? What are Brand Actions? Below are a few examples.
The Business Slump
Think about what it would be like if your business name alone brought in thousands of customers. Imagine that your business is so successful it seems you can do nothing wrong. All is good. EVERYTHING you touch turns to gold. Clearly, your brand is providing value to a lot of local customers. Have you noticed the pride starting to swell inside of you yet?
Well, hold the rebranding phone for just a second. There’s a huge problem with this story. In this fairy tale, your offering is exactly the same as when you started your business with one small addition. Because you have had some success you may not be as hungry right now as were back then. The smaller freshly branded competitors have come in and are nipping away at your brand’s market share. You have enough busy work to cloud your creative vision and its starting to show. Now instead of appealing to your potential customers with a humble and grateful attitude, your brand has shifted to a boastful boldness. A grateful customer service attitude that tackles challenges with a positive mindset and another that approaches with a boastful arrogant attitude are two very different things. When you make this subtle brand action shift, it will undermine your brand’s success over time, and it will eventually show up in declining sales.
The Forever Startup
Starting and branding a business in Austin, Texas, isn’t easy. Imagine you have just begun and the sales are starting to climb because of your networking activities. Finally, your efforts have brought your business above the break-even mark. Or picture that you start to notice the newness wearing off and every time you hand out a business card with your website you follow up with a disclaimer that you are working on a new look. Or better yet, you tell the future customer the business card is old and temporary. These are apologies for your business and business character.
Both of these examples undermine your branding actions and limit the connection you have with your customers. Changing them will increase sales and is as simple as reading this article.
Branding action is a combination of many things. The first step is knowing your beliefs. Second, know how your business beliefs and values tie into your business problems. Third, define new actions that align with your brand and client needs. Document these actions in compelling ways that will be read and accepted through your business ecosystem. Last, retool and reteach. Teach yourself and your team as soon as possible to turn things around. No matter what you can’t go back in time to where you began. It’s difficult not to quote Spaceballs The Movie: The reality of NOW is different from when you started THEN.
When you partner with NOX Creative we help you illustrate and communicate the essence of who you truly are. When that happens it’s like biting into your favorite sweet fruit. The key to success is in trusting the people who help you change.
