Julian’s Business Tips: Brand New Values
Last month I heard a very interesting talk about the importance of branding.
I don’t mean the corporate logo or colour palette type of branding, I’m talking true branding: the thing that separates your company from its competitors, your brand values.
We used to call this your USP: your ‘unique selling point’, but it is much more than that. What makes your business special? What values do you manifest? What do you actually believe in?
There will be a group of prospects who need your products, and you need to work hard to understand them completely. Because within that group will be a niche who not only need the product, but who share your beliefs!
Now you are in a position to dominate the niche by creating a strong brand based on their needs and your beliefs. And you must be able to communicate it clearly – could you explain your values in one sentence?
Make it really clear what you stand for, and people will choose whether they align with it or not. Whilst this may miss some prospects, the ones who ‘get you’ will become such strong supporters, that they will more than make up for the lost few.
And don’t forget that the world moves on, or as a recent Nobel literature laureate once wrote, ‘the times they are a-changing’. If you stand still, you will get left behind.
Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey legend, famously attributed his success to ‘skating to where the puck is going to be, not where it is now’! By the same token, you need to be moving your business to where the world will be by the time that you get there!
Knowing your values and keeping them constant will really help you steer your company to its brand new future success!
