Does Your Brand Coincide with Your Industry?

Many business owners work hard to establish a brand for their company. A brand is a collective impact or lasting impression from all that is seen or experienced by customers who come into contact with a company and its products and services.

With today’s competitive market, it’s not surprising that many companies are pushing the limits with their brands. However, with all this competition comes an increase in firms suffering from an identity crisis.

Let’s take a quick look into how to develop and maintain your brand as well as ensuring your brand matches your industry:

Intentions Not Outcomes:

It’s important to understand that your industry is defined by your intentions and not the outcomes.

In other words, your company is not defined by the products and services you supply. Instead, your company’s attributes and characteristics define its corporate brand. Apple is a wonderful example of this approach. Apple did not build its brand around its products, but they build it around innovation.

Matching Your Brand to Your Industry:

While defining and developing your company’s goals is a component of building the brand experience, visually recreating those intentions is a part of generating the brand image.

The following are three branding concepts to help ensure your brand matches your industry:

Company Name – The auto business is a great example of this; they create a brand name that reflects a wide range of products. To put it another way, individuals may not know the exact model of the goods they purchased, but they do know if it was a Ford or a Mercedes.

Attitude Branding – Instead of focusing on the product, the goal of this type of branding is to create a bigger feeling. Instead of focusing on the product or service’s user experience, it “sets the standard” to new heights that include a higher feeling of purpose (i.e. Nike, Starbucks, etc.).

Iconic Branding – Iconic branding contributes to the client’s self-expression and/or personal identity rather than achieving an ambitious goal. Apple is a great example of this; they’ve built a brand that communicates their unique character by becoming a cultural symbol through their product offerings.

What If They Don’t Match?

If you’ve read this far and come to the conclusion that you need to either redefine your company’s identity or recreate its brand (logo, name, sign, symbol, etc.), you should take action immediately. Start from the ground up and determine your industry and the overall brand experience. Then explore your brand’s image and how customers will recognize it.

With that in mind, it may be even more essential for you to seek professional branding services if you are having trouble defining your industry and brand. Don’t hesitate to contact us.