Branding
All Branding is Advertising but Not All Advertising is
Branding
Your advertising could be killing your brand.
JoS. A. Bank, Clothier, opened a business in 1905. On March 11, 2014, Men’s Wearhouse acquired JoS. A. Bank for $1.8 billion. Why, after almost 110 years, was JoS. A. Bank prime for being bought by their competitor and at such a bargain basement price?
One big reason is because their advertising killed their brand. Everything in the JoS. A. Bank’s branding was about a quality product with exceptional service. Beautiful dark wood fixtures. Beautiful displays.
Well stocked shelves. Well trained employees. When you walked into a JoS. A. Bank store, you expected to have to pay a lot of money for a suit, tie, shoes, or sweater. Suits started at $750 each and only went up from there.
Well stocked shelves. Well trained employees. When you walked into a JoS. A. Bank store, you expected to have to pay a lot of money for a suit, tie, shoes, or sweater. Suits started at $750 each and only went up from there.
Well stocked shelves. Well trained employees. When you walked into a JoS. A. Bank store, you expected to have to pay a lot of money for a suit, tie, shoes, or sweater. Suits started at $750 each and only went up from there.
With a brand and atmosphere like that, how could you go wrong?
This is a brand that was built over 110 years and was destroyed by advertising.
It seemed that every other week, JoS. A. Bank had a sale. 3 suits for the price of one. They conditioned their customers to only buy when their suits were on sale for 66% off. Why would you ever buy a suit at regular price. No company can withstand those enormous discounts.
What is Branding and Why is it Important?
We, as consumers, pay millions of dollars each year for the privilege of advertising certain company’s products. Why?What is
A company will have produced a T-shirt that costs them $5.00 and we then spend $25.00 to buy it. We then wear it out in the public and provide the company hundreds of dollars of advertising. What would drive us to do this? As consumers, it’s insane. As a company, it’s genius!
As a small business owner, what does this mean for your company?
Branding is essential for the long-term well being of your company. If you do not brand, you will continually struggle to acquire new clients.
You may be asking yourself, “What is Branding?”
The answer is simple to answer…everything others think and say about your business.
Your customer’s perceptions of your business.
Your potential customer’s perceptions of your business.
Is your company’s product or service inferior, competent or superior to your competition?
Is your company known as being dishonest or honest?
Is your company seen as an amateur, novice or expert?
Is your company viewed as being untrustworthy or trustworthy?
Is your company viewed as the leader in your industry or are you just a wanna-be?
We have all heard of the term “Top of Mind Awareness”, this is only a part of branding. Important, to be sure, but only a part.
Let me ask you a question. It you were moving tomorrow, who would you ask to help you move your most precious possessions? Who’s name pops into your mind first? That is “Top of Mind Awareness”.
One company may spend millions on advertising to achieve Top of Mind Awareness, but if that company doesn’t have Positive Brand Recognition, their competition, even with a smaller advertising budget, will be around a lot longer.
Create Positive Brand Recognition by always providing a positive experience for your customers. Always be honest. Always do your best to solve client’s
problems. Always treat a client as if your were going to ask them for a testimonial.
Always provide the service better than you promised you would. I could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the point.
Your actions will create Positive Brand Recognition faster than any new product, slogan or logo. I’ve heard it said that it takes 10 times more money to get a new client than to retain a current client.
Don’t waste marketing dollars getting a new client if it going to be wasted by a bad experience that doesn’t create Positive Brand Recognition.
A bad reputation is too expensive.