Rescue Desk

I spent some time working for a woman who was, hands down, one of the most brilliant corporate marketers I’d ever worked with. She was highly creative, fiercely intelligent, beyond experienced and always, always had her eye on the goal. Granted, she could also be hell on wheels … she didn’t shy away from pushing for answers, slicing through red tape with a machete, having extremely high expectations, and stepping on a few toes to get things done.

I learned more about marketing by watching her than I have from just about anyone else.  She even branded herself to stand out, being fearless (and looking great) in bright pink blazers and colorful skirts, taking fabulous vacations, and having the confidence in knowing that she could dole out the fear of God just as easily as a funny story. 

I’d had plenty of experience working with marketing teams and riding shotgun when new promotional strategies were in the works. But, this woman continuously brought me back to one simple question: What’s your brand?

It’s now the question I ask myself every time I develop a new marketing or promotion strategy for my own business, and is usually one of the first questions I ask potential clients when they want my help with a project.

I know it’s obvious, but I think business owners — especially first-time business owners — sometimes need to be reminded that their brand should be the baseline for just about any marketing decision. I think small businesses (myself included) tend to get mired down in the detail work of specific strategies or plans and forget to bring themselves back to the foundation of their brand.

How will this plan further the brand I’m working to establish? Will speaking to this particular audience be cohesive with my brand? Does this strategy connect with the target of my brand?

Like knowing the niche for your business, you simply can’t be all things to all people. So, your brand is an important differentiator between you and the competition.  If you try to come up with a soft, all-purpose, generic branding message to appeal to all people in all corners, you may end up being nothing specific to everyone in general. 

Only you can define your brand, and it’s something that certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. Corporations spend millions just tweaking their brand to complement the current day in the current market … look at the business history of McDonald’s, Coke or Nike. The brands have essentially stayed the same, but the messages behind the already-powerful, solid brands have simply been updated.

Running a business – whether it be a solo operation or a multizillion-dollar operation – isn’t easy. I can understand the temptation to skirt the branding question when you’re on a tight deadline or under the gun to introduce something new. But, being able to solidly align your plan with your brand will save those precious budgeting dollars and further solidify your position in the market.