Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge When you think about the brands that you purchase, what is it that makes you prefer one brand to another brand on the shelf? Ask this question to ten people, and you will most likely get ten different responses. However, there will be a common element found in all of the responses trust. A brand represents the relationship between the seller and buyer, and trust is an integral component of any relationship business or personal. After all, if you cannot trust a company or product to do what it says it will do, the relationship is weakened and eventually destroyed. The brand is what creates the bond between the buyer and seller. It is the backbone of all of the soft stuff that builds trust in your product and your company. That s why in a world where products and services are moving at an accelerating pace toward commodity status, those companies that have a brand people trust are able to grow profits and market share. In most small businesses, the relationship with the customer is present but not nurtured. But what exactly is a brand and why is it important that it be managed? Contrary to some beliefs, branding is not a buzzword or management fad created by advertising agencies or marketing gurus. Brands have never really gone out of fashion, but they have changed to remain relevant. In today s economy, brands represent the heart and soul of the enterprise. In a broader context, branding is the process of creating, nurturing and sustaining a beneficial, mutually rewarding relationship with customers. The brand makes an implicit promise to the consumer, and this is what allows the brand to create a distinct and preferred position in the marketplace. Due to small business ability to create, nurture and sustain relationships with its customers, small businesses are in an excellent position to take their brand to the next level. With this forward-looking, optimistic prognosis, why is it that small businesses only seem to get to third base? What makes it difficult to make that special connection with your customer and hit a homerun? In most small businesses, the relationship with the customer is present but not nurtured. Without nurturing the relationship between the company and its customers, there is little incentive for the customer to increase her loyalty to a company. When a competitor offers a better price for a similar product or service, the weak brand (relationship) provides no glue to hold it together, and the customer defects. If only the small business owner recognized the importance of nurturing the relationship, customer loyalty would increase and the bond between Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge 1
the company and its customer base would be strengthened. The longterm result is a brand that is preferred, a customer base that is loyal, and increased profits for the small business owner. Despite the fact that small businesses are in a unique position to leverage their relationships with consumers, most do not actively manage their brand. Whether we accept it or not, each time we touch the consumer (verbal or non-verbal) we are communicating our brand. This includes the way we answer the telephone, product packaging, pre-sale service, post-sale support, product quality, on-time delivery, and promotions to name only a few points of contact. This is in addition to what most people consider branding elements: advertising, logos, colors and other marketing activities. STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE There are many reasons why small businesses struggle in managing their brand to grow revenue and increase profits. The most obvious reasons: lack of marketing skills, human resources, capital resources and time are only scratching the surface of the real challenge. In fact, none of these excuses can be justified as actual reasons small businesses fail to make their brand and company a winner. Branding does not require a large staff; it is something each person in the company does. Branding is not advertising and does not require significant capital investments. Consider the Starbucks brand. The brand success of Starbucks was not built on creating great advertising and spending huge sums of money to generate awareness. Instead, Starbucks created a unique offering that was relevant and differentiated. The company succeeded by maintaining a highly consistent branding effort throughout all of its retail operations. A Starbucks experience in Seattle is the same as the experience in Kalamazoo. Consistency made an incredible difference in the success of Starbucks. Branding is a mind-set that requires discipline and a passion to provide the best products and services to the market, with customer loyalty and profitability being the ultimate measure of branding success. Branding, at its core, is all about relationships. Creating, nurturing and sustaining relationships are where the small business can outshine most competitors to create a special bond with its customers. Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge 2
HITTING A HOMERUN WITH YOUR BRAND So how can a business faced with the market reality of increasing commoditization and fragmenting loyalty from consumers reverse this negative trend and break away from its competitors? How can a small business get past 3 rd base and hit a homerun with consumers? It begins by building trust with your targeted audience. Making and keeping promises create trust, and active brand management provides the vehicle for communicating this trust. A personal focus on customers has long been the strength of many small business owners. Relationships are what give us the ability to attract new customers and increase the frequency of business from existing customers. However, to turn this strength into a valuable asset, effort must be given to actively managing the brand. It is always easier to say what should be done, rather than to do it. And in the case of managing a great brand, this is also true. The difficulty comes not in creating the brand, but in nurturing and sustaining the brand over time. Creating the brand is a relatively easy task. Nurturing and sustaining the brand is the real challenge in brand management. How can you implement a consistent brand image that is nurtured and sustained over the years? It begins with a simple definition of who you are and what makes you unique. Why should anyone want to do business with you? Sometimes this is referred to as a unique selling proposition and may already be a part of your business plan or mission statement. CREATE, NUTURE, AND SUSTAIN YOUR BRAND Remember that consistency rules. From fax forms to letterhead, envelopes to business cards, the same colors, logos, typeface and fonts should be used. The same critical eye of consistency should be applied to integrating your communications. Whether it is personal selling, print ads in a trade magazine or your web site, the same message should come through each medium. The targeted audience should be exposed to the same message and get the same feeling of confidence through all communication vehicles. This integration and consistency is where you will find the biggest returns from your marketing investments. Another aspect to help with managing a winning brand is to focus on your share of customer rather than share of market. Small business owners and managers must face the reality of limited funds. Throwing Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge 3
Building a brand takes time, and a few ads alone will not do the trick. money at consumers via advertising is, in many cases, not a luxury small businesses have. Even if your company does have plenty of cash on hand, advertising for prestige or ego are not good reasons for advertising. Many small businesses believe that advertising in the local newspaper or on the hottest radio station will create instant brand preference and loyal customers. Building a brand (relationship) takes time and a few ads alone will not do the trick. Advertising is important to the brand, but be aware of what advertising can and cannot do. It cannot create loyalty or instant brand preference. It can however, communicate a specific message and motivate consumers to do something. Compare this relationship building to finding a spouse you simply do not put on your best designer clothing, walk up to the first person you see and propose marriage. Sure you look great and your vocabulary is impressive. But you have not introduced yourself properly nor developed a relationship with the prospect. A better approach is to recognize that relationships are built over time, and begin by asking for a first date. If things go well, second and third dates follow. After a relationship (i.e. trust) is established, then you are ready to make a proposal for marriage. Expecting an ad or two to close the deal between the consumer and your business is like proposing marriage to the first person you meet. It simply does not work. Creating and nurturing the relationship with your prospect however, does. CONCLUSIONS Is your company managing all of the points of contact that consumers have with your company, products and services? If your answer is yes, great! You are well on your way to nurturing your brand and building trust the prerequisite for any purchase decision. All activities that communicate who you are must lead to building trust and confidence with consumers. Without actively managing these critical elements, a long-term relationship will never be achieved. Remember, the brand is the backbone of all the soft stuff that builds trust in your products and your company. Small businesses do face a branding challenge. The challenge comes from the lack of discipline to actively manage the brand in a world where customer loyalty is being torn and companies focus on price instead of differentiation. The good news is that small businesses are in an excellent position to leverage their unique ability to treat customers differently and build long-term relationships that are profitable to both the customer and the business. Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge 4
ABOUT MARTZ MARKETING GROUP Martz Marketing Group (www.martzmarketing.com) is a Kalamazoobased small business marketing consulting firm helping entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed through intelligent marketing. Professional services include: Strategy Development Marketing Planning Business Planning Internet Marketing Public Relations Marketing Performance Evaluations Brand Identity and Positioning If you need the expertise of a marketing guru, but want to avoid the bureaucracy found at large advertising agencies, contact Martz Marketing Group at 269.323.0393 or visit www.martzmarketing.com. Getting Past 3rd Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge 5