04 Apr Knowing your own brand image
In the big corporate world marketers have all the tools at their disposal – focus groups, surveys, store information, polling, distribution informations, etc. But a smaller business doesn’t have the luxury of a team of people constantly developing and testing messages. And what often happens is that the leadership team (or sole owner) often lose sight of their own brand image. Keep in mind that a brand is not your advertising or your logo – it’s the perceptions your customers have of your product or service. And despite the hours you may have spent poring over that last proposal to make sure it sounds “just right” you could be way off the mark.
I see this in the consulting industry all the time. Services people often want to the be the ones viewed as “strategic” or “value add.” And why? For every strategic consultant there are about 20 test analysts on the other side of the project lifecycle. I’ll tell you what – when I was in consulting I would much rather sell the 20 analysts! Don’t be so concerned with whether your brand sounds important or glamorous. Go for the perception in the minds of your customers that you deliver a consistent, quality product. That’s what people want. They don’t care if you’re from New York or Elkhorn, Iowa. They just want their problem solved.
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