© Will Lion

Consumers seek meaning and a brand they can trust. They are busy at work on Web 2.0 platforms creating ways to cut through the noise in search of products and services that resonate with integrity and transparency; in a word, authenticity. That quest for authenticity is a call to action for any company intending to be relevant in the 21st century.” | Sohrab Vossoughi, Business Week 

Branding is an art not a science. What may work for one company may not for another. The most important thing is to engage and listen to your customer. The following is a brand checklist that every brand (personal and professional) should go over before doing business.

Vision

What you want to do.

5 words. That’s all. If you can’t sum up what your company does in 5 words then your vision isn’t clear enough. The less words that convey what you are looking to do the more volume it speaks.

Values

How you want to do it.

Your values tell people exactly how your are going to accomplish your goals. This is one of the most important aspects of a brand. Your company values tell others where you stand ultimately differentiating you from  your competitor. 

Features/Attributes

What you do.

Regardless if your company offers a tangible physical product or just a service you will always have a feature or an attribute. These are the functional things that a consumer looks for complete a task in their life. If  you were a screwdriver  you would screw in screws. Not very exciting but this is what your consumers look for to get things done.

Benefits

What you do for others.

This is where your company’s differential advantage comes into play. Businessdictionary.com defines differential advantage as “Unique benefits or characteristics of a firm, product, or program that set it apart and above its competitors in the customers’ viewpoint.” If you were a screwdriver a benefit of you would be that you are easy to turn while you screw something.

Extension: Emotional Vs. Rational

How you do for others.

Every brand has features and benefits but what really sets you apart is how you connect to your consumer. You should know your consumer intimately in order to know how to emotionally AND rationally connect with them. Not every consumer wants to be connected with in the same way. 

Personality Characteristics

Who you are.

What your consumers DO want is for you to communicate with them on a level that constantly conveys your vision through your values by giving them the features in a way that benefits them emotionally and/or rationally. Got that? Basically, they want you to “get” them.  How do you do that?

Attract & Retain

What you say.

Your positioning decides exactly which customers you will attract and retain. That’s why it’s extremely important to be clear from the beginning in every aspect of communication on what and how you’re saying it. People love talking about themselves. They also gravitate to anything that resonates with THEIR values. That’s how you attract the right customers. How you retain them is another story.

Retaining your customers requires a combination of continuing your policies of attraction as well as reading between the lines of communication between you and them. Your customers won’t always tell you what they want. For these instances you need to aggregate indicators and infer your professional knowledge as well as industry trends in order to deliver what your customers may want next.

Deliver

When you do it.

 When your customers DO give you direct feedback be sure to listen AND implement any and all relevant suggestions. You aren’t required to give your customer everything they ask for but be prepared to give them something else instead. There are certain expectations put in place by your interactions with your customer from day one. One expectation that is non-negotiable is giving them an answer. There are too many channels available to both consumer and brand that there is no excuse not to give an answer.

Delivering doesn’t just have to do with delivering answers. It also has to do with delivering your values and benefits to the consumer. The visuals, words, and products that represent your company ALL deliver a message. If any of them fail to live up to your standards then they fail you and ultimately your consumer.

Trust

Why they stay.

Everything you do, everything you communicate adds up to why your customers continue to patronize you. Your job as a brand is to always be communicating the same message in every arena (design, marketing, social media, customer service, print, et al). Engaging your customer actively by delivering what you promise consistently is how you build trust. Everything you do as a brand with your customer gets added to a “trust fund”. Every time your customer engages with you on any level the outcome is that the relationship “fund” you’ve set up is modified. Depending on the experience, trust is either added or taken away from this intangible fund. 

Your job as a brand is to be the trust fund manager. Properly managed this fund will grow in leaps and bounds over time. An improperly managed trust fund can not only lead to shutting down the account but will also lead to a loss of massive amounts of potential future customers due to negative word of mouth.

With social media being the technological word of mouth a company can not afford to default on their trust fund. Consistently monitoring your interactions will leave you ahead of the game as long as you are always on brand. 

So, what are you doing, personally and professionally, to be on brand? What areas can you improve in?