A solid brand will determine the fate of your business. It’s the cornerstone of your decision making, the bridge between your mission and your clients, and the gauge by which you measure your company’s success. You need to develop your brand thoroughly and successfully.
To do that, you must understand the depth that your brand really has. When you develop your brand, it’s not just a fresh coat of paint and some clever wording. The personality that clients ascribe to your business has to match your mission.
Write the basics of what you discussed with Alisia about the mystery behind branding. Remember that the secret is creating an experience for your clients to remember. Reference Disney’s rules, language, and philosophy.
The Overlooked Truth About Brand
When you develop your brand, you need to realize the most overlooked reality. Your brand is about the experience more than it ever will be about appearances. It’s the stuff that makes up working with your company, not the label you put on your product.
Consider Disney. This company has built a brand around the idea of magic and imagination. The core of their brand is customer experience. In that experience, the magic must never be destroyed. Characters can never be seen in half costume and must be in character when in costume. Cast and crew can’t ever use inappropriate language and must always be polite, including executives who rarely deal directly with the public.
If you’re ever granted backstage access at any of the Disney parks, as I have been on multiple occasions, pictures and video are not permitted. If you are caught taking either, your camera device will be confiscated, and the photos or videos deleted. Disney reasons that those photos and videos could destroy the experience for their most important guests, the children.
Your Logo Is The Least Meaningful Part Of Developing Your Brand
When you develop your brand, most of the time you put a focus on your logo. You additionally spend time on a tagline, business cards, and brochures. There’s a lot of focus on the way your company looks. While all of that contributes to the experience of working with your company, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Most logos have little to no connection to the mission statement of the company they represent. These icons are a visual representation of your company, but they are not the key to a brand. When you look at Disney’s (or any other iconic company’s) logo, do you think of their mission statement? Absolutely not. I’d venture that you don’t even know their mission statement. But you do think of the experience they provide.
Disney’s mission is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. It’s so cold and corporate, and yet, they live it daily through customer experience. That Disney brand is what you know and remember, and it’s what you envision when you see their logo. But their logo didn’t create that association. Their branded experience did.
What To Think About When You Develop Your Brand
As you develop your brand, you’ll want to focus on the things that get people connected and keep them coming back. Your experience is what really matters. Follow these steps to develop your brand in a more meaningful, effective way.
Know And Understand Your Mission Statement
The first step when you develop your brand is to understand your mission statement. You’ll be creating an experience that drives that result. Disney pushes magic and imagination to become that entertainment and information company their mission describes. Similarly, your mission should shape your brand experience.
Familiarize yourself with your mission so you can envision what it’s going to take to see that happen. From there, you’ll work backward, behaving as a company that has already achieved the goal, making decisions along the way that can lead you no place but there.
Develop Your Language
Disney references cast and crew members, as well as Imagineers when they talk about certain jobs within the company. They reference their parks as “Kingdom”, “Adventure”, “World”, and other euphemisms that evoke a spirit of imagination. Their language is a part of their brand and their experience.
Consider the language you use as a part of running your company? Does it kindle the kind of feeling that will help deliver on your mission? Plan out all the ways you can use language to help deliver a unique experience for your clients. Get them to associate the outcome of your mission with your company in the way Disney is the ruler of media.
Make Your Products Match Your Mission
Disney’s name is attached to hundreds of commodities, from toys to coloring books to clothing. However, their real products are entertainment and media. They produce the very thing they seek to excel in, aligning perfectly with their mission statement.
Your products should match your mission as well. After all, you can’t expect to achieve your mission if what you have to offer can’t get you there. And, if you have a product that’s holding you back like CVS did, you need to drop it. Keep your products in line with your mission.
Put The Experience First
More than anything, the experience of working with your company has got to take precedence over other factors. Disney won’t let cast or crew break character, “non-magical” occurrences (like messes from sick children) are handled discreetly and with the highest level of care, and the “magic” always comes first. In that way, they’ve created loyalty to their brand, which is the goal.
When you develop your brand experience, you need to be certain that the inconvenient and unfortunate occurrences that sometimes pop up can be dealt with in a manner that doesn’t take away from the experience. Make sure you know what to do when there is a problem, handling it to the best result for the customer. In the end, that loyalty will pay off.
To Develop Your Brand Is To Create Your Company Culture
In the end, when you develop your brand effectively, you’ve created a culture that drives your goals. Your mission comes to life, and your company continues to see success. It’s worth the time to make sure it’s done completely and correctly.
