How to start defining your brand?

I get this question often - "how do I define my company's brand?"  Building and defining your brand can be daunting for any size organization.  My advice is to start with the customer (this is usually my advice for just about anything marketing related!).

You will need to 1) define your target audience and 2) understand the one thing you have their permission to own.  This will help you get a clear idea of how you are different from the competition in the eyes of your audience so that you know what space you can own based on the value you create. 

Define Your Audience
Being choiceful and zeroing in on your target audience is critical, even if it means excluding other audiences. You build your brand around your core audience and the differentiation you own, and let other audiences either be drawn in or be left out. The reason you are okay with exclusion is that the customers you attract ultimately define the kind of brand you are and the way you operate. Think about the way your customers ask you to respond to them today (cut prices? deliver faster? etc.)......you build everything around their needs, so be careful to get the customers you want.  Need more help segmenting your audience?  Read this.

Understand Your Competitive Advantage from Your Audience POV
Start by talking to your existing customers to understand why they choose you over the competition. Ask potential customers how they perceive your brand.  If you can, engage market research professionals to help you. Based on the insights ideate around what space you can own - what do you want your brand to represent in their hearts and minds above and beyond product and functional features? What emotional territory do you want and have permission to own based on your competitive differentiation?  Also, what about their current perception do you want to strengthen, shift, or change?    

Clearly defining target audience and your brand’s “ownable” competitive advantage among that audience is the key to occupying a unique, defensible position in a customers mind and building long-lasting brand affinity.

Got questions? Email me.