Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question,“what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
Talking to business people about their company branding can be a bit of a touchy subject. After all, you’ve probably put your heart and soul, as well as a lot of money, into you business. Branding should elevate what you’ve created. Branding can help you stand out from a crowd. Here are three tips to help you focus your branding.
- Meditate On Your Favorite Bedtime Story Do you remember when you were a kid and you were read a magical bedtime story? You were transported off to a far away land, all within the confines of your imagination. Importantly, you felt genuinely connected to the fictional world you were experiencing. That’s what made it such a visceral experience. If appropriate you may want to recreate this feeling for your brand. Your brand should create a powerful association, similar to your favorite childhood bedtime story.
- Make The Boring Cool Let’s face it; most businesses aren’t doing things we’d watch for fun. But just because the subject matter of the firm is dull, doesn’t mean the branding has to be. Take Warby Parker, for instance. Here is a company doing something quintessentially mundane: making glasses. But their branding belies this reality. Instead, it focuses on how the company is a rebel in an otherwise boring space by offering designer eyewear at discount prices. In other words, they’re standing up for you, the consumer, in this epic battle for your money. The company is also obsessed with great graphic design. Their website is festooned with models, all sporting the firm’s latest eyewear. And the images are big, bold, and easily navigable. Thus, branding is about more than just using clever words. It’s about choosing the correct graphic designer to create images that underscore the words.
- Make A Promise Hubspot is primarily an inbound marketing business, meaning blogs, podcasts, video and ebooks. They’ve made a promise to “make the world more inbound.” It might not sound like much, but making a commitment is crucial. You’re cashing in on a powerful social device – the informal contract we call a promise. Hubspot’s promise isn’t empty either. They back it up by providing all sorts of resources free of charge.