Branding (Assuming You're Not A Cow)

The word is rampant in the industry. Some think it means a logo, some see it as the whole corporate package. Some promise branding with a web site. Some look to consultants to refresh or design a brand. 

You may have heard this before, but the truth is unless you happen to be an unfortunate cow, a logo is not a brand. In fact, cows will attest this approach stings like crazy. Agencies and consultants can help you develop your identity and marketing communication products, and these may be part of the brand process, but your brand is much, much more than that.

Take, for instance, the Savannah Blowpipe Company, which (according to its website) began in 1900 with a total capital of $3,000. In 1931, now called The Steel Products Company (total assets about $100,000) it saw an opportunity to design and manufacture truck trailers. They hired the best trailer man they could find, who had been building truck trailers in South Carolina and had been calling them by the name Great Dane. He had been familiar with the use of Belgium's use of Great Dane dogs as work animals: known for their strength and stamina.

By 1958 they changed their name to Great Dane Trailers, Inc. and experienced explosive growth through the '80s, allowing great strides in technology and more efficient service to customers. In 2000, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary. Less than one company in 10,000 lives to observe 100 years in business.

Developing a brand is an ongoing, continuous process that gathers equity over time. Small company, large corporation, or just you: you build on a brand every day. Or you hurt it. It's everything you do and how you grow and how you speak to your client's needs. It's your personality and your quality experience and your consistency and how your best efforts reverberate with your clientele. It's how you answer the phone. It's the total environment you create: online and in person. What it is not, though, is a quick logo or a fast website, regardless of what others may say. 

But you knew that.
 
"At the end of the day, your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room."
Attributed to Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon