From Better To Best - Corporate Branding

Have you ever wondered how multi-national companies like McDonalds, Coca-cola, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Motorola, Sony and UPS came up with their names? Just think, if these companies have some lame or forgettable brand name, would they be as big as they are now? Every company starts out by thinking of a name. A law firm, for example, commonly uses the names of its associates, like Smith, Johnson and Brown Law Firm. The name of a woman's specialty shop should be something sensual and exciting, like Victoria's Secret or Bare Essentials. A clothing line should boast the popular designer's name. Corporate branding does not just involve the company name. It also includes the corporate logo design and the overall company image. More importantly, it conveys your corporate identity. When you think of computers, Microsoft comes to mind. Instead of photocopier, you think of Xerox. Toothpaste equals Colgate. Coming up with the perfect brand name that will stick to the consumer's mind is as important as coming up with the finances to start a company - be it big or small.

1. First Impressions Last

When you distribute a business card, see what dominates that small piece of paper. Brand names and logos. Bland brand names never work. When you think of a name, follow these rules:

- Be original.

- Do not be overly creative - business cards must be functional. Sure a uniquely sized/shaped card might generate interest but it's very hard for a secretary to file in a business card rack.

- From your options, choose one that has a global appeal.

2. Branding

In today's global marketplace, a brand is considered as a valuable corporate asset and a marketing tool for success. Thus, you should always give careful consideration to different cultures if you plan to conquer a worldwide market.

3. The Simpler The Better

When creating the company logo, it is much more advisable to be creative and distinctive. The more conservative designs apply to a target market of the same kind. If you apply the same concept to a company whose customers are supposed to be young and hip, they will fall asleep as soon as they hear your brand name and see your logo. With a younger clientele, it is best to be energetic and creative when thinking of corporate naming and branding.

4. Brand Name Equals Image

With the Internet being considered as the most powerful marketing tool, it is very important that your customers remember something distinctive about your company. Give out a clear picture of the message that you want to impart and the image that you want to project. Strong graphic design is the ace up your sleeve to leave a lasting impact of your company.

5. Be Consistent

Corporate branding takes time. It includes your company name, your logo, your customer service, the staff, the building location, the state of the offices, even your maintenance staff and the company vehicles. As years pass, your company develops a certain reputation. It is a good thing if, upon hearing the name of your company, people would immediately associate it with the service or product that you represent. Make sure that you stick to the corporate image that you want to project.

6. Create A Powerful, Branded Web Site

Marketing though the Internet is yet another aspect of corporate branding. You should develop a distinctive, informative and complete web site. This is so that customers would have a clear understanding of your company profile.

7. Research, Manage, Dominate!

Try visiting websites which offer corporate branding and advertising services. Better yet, look for the people behind the big companies and ask or research on how these establishments have gotten to where they are now. check on their corporate structure and how they began. Make sure that the people who make up the corporate ladder have enough enthusiasm and confidence about the company which should rub off on the rest of the staff. It would never hurt your company if you have a good personnel attitude and an intense pride of work.

Corporate Branding is Key to a Successful Business

Corporate branding is the process of establishing a name and image for your business. It is something, which should be done by every organization, and establishes a name for your product or service.

While you can have a successful business without the use of corporate branding, it is much harder to remain in the minds of customers when you do not have a brand or logo for them to associate your business with. Corporate branding begins with the designing of a relevant logo, website, business cards, letterheads, and any other promotional materials that you might need.

With these items in place and the corporate logo established, you will begin to see why corporate branding is the key to success.

Why is Corporate Branding so Important?

When you think about Nike, what comes to mind? I can guarantee that most of you just pictured a check mark in your head. This is because Nike has spent a lot of time and money to ensure that their logo and "just do it" motto have been set into the minds of consumers for years.

This is just one example of why corporate branding is so important. Without a brand image to quickly associate your business with, you are instantly out of the minds of consumers.

If you can on the other hand, provide consumers with a lasting memory of your brand, then yours will be the first business that will come to mind when they see that image or logo. It will also allow them to spread the word about your business much easier.

Sometimes people remember logos better than the names of businesses.

You Can't Do It Alone

The first thing you need to understand about corporate branding before you begin selecting a logo or other merchandise, is that you can't do it alone. Even if you could design the image, you would not be able to produce the merchandise such as business cards, letterhead, and other promotional items by yourself.

For this reason, it is important to enlist the help of professionals. Companies who provide marketing services can conduct research based on your business, and help you choose a logo, motto, and merchandise that can help you create effective corporate branding.

While you may spend a little bit of money by using one of these companies' services, it will be well worth it when your business has a successful brand, and your traffic and sales increase. While you are new to the idea of corporate branding, these professional companies have had years of experience helping businesses get their start.

Developing a Logo

The first step that a marketing service company will introduce you to, is the development of a logo. This is the most important step in corporate branding, because it creates an image that will always be associated with your business.

A logo can be serious, humorous, or just about anything else that you like. It can communicate to consumers what type of services or goods that you offer, your quality of service, or any other important information. It is essential that you choose a logo that can't be interpreted the wrong way.

It is also important to choose a logo that makes a statement about your company, and is not just a random choice. The more content you are with your brand image, the better your potential customers will react to it.

Completing the Image

Choosing a logo is not the last step in corporate branding. In order to effectively brand your business, you need to display that logo and brand image consistently on and in all your marketing efforts. A company's letterhead, business cards, and any other promotional items used should reflect the logo and brand image that has been created.

If you are inconsistent, your attempt at corporate branding will fail. Corporate branding is becoming increasingly popular with local small businesses and large corporate companies as well. When you associate a specific logo, image, or motto with your business, the consumers are more likely to recognize your brand as one they know and trust.

Remember though, that it cannot be done alone and that is best to enlist the help of a professional marketing service when working on this strategy.

Corporate Branding Marketing

Differentiating and communicating your product's unique value to your slice of the global marketplace is becoming more difficult and expensive every day. And with the rising costs of R&D and development necessary to create products that really do offer something exclusive and different, just one expensive, ineffective branding or marketing campaign can mean death. But there is a way for companies to stack the deck in their favor--have a very strong corporate brand.

Strong Corporate Branding can empower any product that company puts out with instant reputation and value that differentiates it in ways that simply can't be reproduced with a product-focused marketing campaign. It's much like how a family's reputation can precede that of an individual family member, resulting in very real pre-judgment and prejudices about that person. In fact, the true nature of the individual may prove inconsequential if his family's reputation is strong enough. People will already have their mind made up about him, good or bad, before they ever meet him.

Just as a family tries to create and protect a good reputation, every conscientious corporation should create and protect a favorable corporate brand. The tools for doing so are the same as those used in product branding, but the work transcends the corporate hierarchy into the boardroom where issues like relations with shareholders, media, competitors, government and many others become part of the strategy. Not surprisingly, an effective corporate branding strategy requires significant effort from the CEO and senior management.

Also, be advised that corporate branding and corporate identity are two different things. A corporate identity strategy, an exercise where the company's logo, design style, color scheme and tagline is created or reworked, may be a component of a corporate branding strategy, it's not the whole thing.

Corporate identity is just the glossy marketing façade. A strong corporate branding program ensures a consistent brand image and experience throughout an organization.
Successful corporate branding involves establishing a long-term vision for the company, carving out pronounced niches in the marketplace and boosting the reach and recognition of the company and its leaders on a global scale.

Some companies with outstanding corporate brands include Microsoft, Intel, Singapore Airlines, Disney, CNN, Samsung and Mercedes-Benz. When your company has a brand like these, mergers and acquisitions are also smoother as was the case with financial powerhouses HSBC and Citibank's vast number of acquisitions in recent years. Eventually, the brand equities of the banks these two behemoths took over were completely absorbed by HSBC and Citibank. This kind of brand strength takes a long time to establish and a great deal of research and tracking to see through to maturity, but it's not as difficult as it sounds. Today's branding research tools are very sophisticated, yet very easy to use.

A strong corporate brand not only gives personality and value to a company's products. It's also a manifestation of the company's vision, values, and culture. HSBC, for instance, portrays itself as a large, powerful bank, but one concerned with lives of regular people. It's a universal image they project throughout the world with the help of the tagline, "The world's local bank."

Effective corporate branding can also empower and direct the further development of an already large brand portfolio. Such is the case with Proctor & Gamble (P&G). P&G markets many different brands under its umbrella, but its corporate brand is quite unique in that its very much rooted in sincere commitment to and respect for the individual purposes, visions and values of its many brands.

Good corporate branding can also help a company be more efficient with its budgets. With today's product development costs higher and product life cycles shorter, corporations must find ways to recoup the extra costs somehow--without sacrificing quality or customer service. With some creativity, companies can leverage a single corporate branding strategy to do the work of many expensive marketing campaigns for separate products.