More than ever before, branding must be consistent, and to be consistent, it must be defined. Your brand is not so much what you project, but how you are perceived. Learn more about this important component of marketing in this week’s podcast.
Episode Show Notes
Podcast Introduction and the Definition of Brand
(0:00 – 1:21) Introduction To Iterative Marketing Podcast: The Iterative Marketing Podcast provides marketers and entrepreneurs with actionable ideas, techniques, and examples to improve marketing results. The podcast hosts, Steve Robinson and Elizabeth Earin discuss their busy lives before introducing the topic of branding and its definition. Resources and notes from the show can be obtained by signing up at brilliantmetrics.com
(1:21 – 3:14) The Perception of Brand: Influence Beyond Visual Representations: The definition of a brand is the perception of an organization by those outside of it, which can be a scary thought as it means some control is lost. However, organizations can still influence their brand, which is not solely determined by logos and advertising but also by the interactions between the front-line staff and customers. The example of Costco illustrates that a strong brand is not exclusively based on a visually appealing logo or advertising but also on the emotional connection it creates with customers.
The Importance of Visuals
(3:14 – 4:56) The Importance of Visuals in Brand Recognition and Accountability: The visual component of a brand triggers emotions and associations in our brains, much like how cave dwellers needed to assess whether someone was a friend or foe quickly. As humans evolved, this response remained, and visuals are vital to our natural associations. A brand becomes a proxy for a human being, and without human touchpoints, we hold the brand accountable. Therefore, creating a recognizable face for a brand is essential.
(4:56 – 5:46) The Importance of Visuals in Building Positive Brand Associations Without Human Interaction: Preferring self-service and online options means less human interaction for decision-makers and consumers. However, human interaction creates warm, positive feelings toward a brand. Therefore, without human interaction, creating a visual experience through elements such as colors, typography, logos, and images can help build associations of trust and appreciation.
The Importance of Consistency
(5:46 – 10:13) The Importance of Consistency in Creating Positive Brand Associations: Consistency is crucial in delivering a positive customer experience. When a brand fails to do so, it can lead to cognitive dissonance for the customer. This can happen subtly, such as a deviation from the expected color or topography of a logo or a shift in the customer service experience. It can also happen when a brand tries to adopt new marketing tactics that are not in line with its brand identity. To avoid this, it’s essential to understand what is and isn’t in line with the brand and to ensure that new mediums are being used in a way that is consistent with the brand. Identifying and understanding brand values and perceptions by customers is crucial to researching and closing the gap between your company’s and customers’ perceptions.
Charity Outreach
(10:13 – 11:07) Charity Break: First Inspires
Discovering Your Brand
(11:07 -12:21) Discovering Your Brand’s Identity: Methods and Approaches: Discovering a brand’s identity is crucial for success, but where do you start? There are various methods, such as market research, surveys, and interviewing customers. One unique approach is called a brand vector, which involves sending a survey to both current and potential customers, including those who did not end up purchasing. The goal is to get feedback from those who have not yet been influenced by the brand’s customer service and interactions, particularly during the sales process.
(12:21 – 15:27) The Brand Vector Survey: A Comprehensive Approach to Brand Research: The Brand Vector Survey is a tool used to assess how an organization is perceived regarding the attributes of its product or service or the emotions it evokes in individuals. It asks people to rate the brand on a spectrum of two extremes and determine where it sits. The survey uses two sides of the spectrum to provide perspective and prevent the brand from being all off on one corner. To ensure alignment, the survey is run with clients, near misses, employees, and the leadership team. It is essential to document and use the results to produce a clear and uniform understanding of the brand internally and externally.
The Importance of Team Buy-In
(15:27 – 20:44) The Importance of Communicating Brand Findings to Your Team: After your brand has been researched and defined, communicating your brand guide to the entire organization is vital. The visual and fulfillment components of the brand guide are equally important, and both need to be consistent across all touchpoints and levels of the organization. If the brand guide and the significance of brand consistency are not communicated effectively throughout the organization, it may result in brand dissonance. Therefore, it is crucial to share the brand with the entire company to achieve genuine brand success.
(20:44 – 21:17) Conclusion: This concludes the current episode. Don’t miss out on the latest and most actionable marketing advice! Sign up for the Brilliant Metrics newsletter today and stay ahead of the game. And, to take your marketing efforts to the next level, tune in to next week’s episode of the Iterative Marketing podcast where we’ll explore the Discovery of Personas and show you how to apply iterative marketing in your organization. Join us and start achieving better results! Goodbye until next week.
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The Iterative Marketing Podcast, a production of Brilliant Metrics, ran from February 2016 to September 2017. Music by SeaStock Audio.
Learn more about Iterative Marketing and listen to other episodes on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.