Do you know this sentence: You are a brand to me! This expresses the fact that someone considers us particularly (or strangely) remarkable, as a person who is well and fondly remembered.
Brand-recognition
Of course, we also strive for this in business life. There are some companies that have created unique brands with high recognition value. The brand can be a name (Coca-Cola), a logo (Apple, Nike, Tesla), or a colour-jingle combination (Telekom). These brands have fans who are only satisfied with the product of their favourite brand. Other products even compare themselves with well-known brands to get some of the shine of the brand leader.
How are valuable brands created?
Brand and business model
When I chose the name PEOPLE & RESULTS 12 years ago, I wanted to express that companies are about both: good results and the people who deliver them. But what sounded simple and plausible to me, aroused the association in many people that PEOPLE & RESULTS is a personnel service provider and not a consulting firm for strategy implementation. Even if I say: Successful strategy implementation with and through the human factor!, this is not immediately to be discovered behind PEOPLE & RESULTS. So I have to make myself, my brand and what I offer known. For example, through blog posts like this one, through a YouTube/Vimeo channel and other social media, through a newsletter or personal networking. Gradually, I can position PEOPLE & RESULTS correctly and bring it to the attention of important decision-makers.
Family-Named Companies
What about companies that don’t have any options regarding the name because it is the long-established family name of the founder? This name must stand for something, for example for certain values that strengthen the products. One example is the company Hipp with its promise of quality.
Why does the company do what it does? Not only since Simon Sinek’s golden circle have we known that the question of meaning should always come first. Why is it a good idea to do what we do? If you can answer this question so conclusively that every person (employee, supplier, customer, partner, other interested parties) immediately knows why the company exists, then you will be noticed and noticeable – simply a brand.
Brand development
To do this, it is necessary to think carefully about the customer. Brand designers, such as Annika Lyndgrun, talk about avatars or personas that you analyse in detail: What drives them, what preoccupies them, what concerns and wishes do they have? If the customer benefits offered by the company address these questions, if the brand core provides answers, so to speak, then this becomes a successful business relationship.
And this relationship grows if it is possible to maintain the brand core, but to constantly adapt the offers to the time and the requirements – for example, because new technologies push into the market or other circumstances change significantly.
In terms of my brand, this means: I support others (companies, departments and individuals) in strategically shaping their future. And I can do that remarkably well because I have the necessary experience, creativity, and practicality.
Is this attracting you? Then we should talk!
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