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Whether you sell to consumers, contractors or big corporations, your customers are bombarded with messages every day. In this environment, companies cannot assume that prospects, or even long-time customers, know all about them. Companies must find a message that strongly communicates their added value. In many cases, they must also manage a portfolio of brands sold through a variety of distribution channels. To help companies develop winning strategies that meet the needs of multiple customer segments, Smart Business spoke with Bob Segal, a Principal at Frank Lynn & Associates Inc. and the leader of the firm’s Brand Strategy Practice.

What does it mean for a brand to communicate added value?

More than 60 years ago, psychologist Abraham Maslow described consumers’ needs using a pyramid with basic needs such as food or sleep at the base and higher-level needs such as acquiring knowledge, being creative or contributing to society at the top. We have developed a similar approach on the business-to-business side, emphasizing higher-level needs like improving customers’ productivity, reducing their life-cycle costs or helping them develop new products. For consumers or corporations, adding value means linking your brand with these higher-level needs.

Is it enough to merely link your brand with these higher-level needs?

A successful brand position must satisfy three conditions: it must be unique, compelling and credible. Linking your brand with a compelling customer need in a unique way is a good start. However, many companies falter in the implementation phase when credibility is proven or refuted.

Can you give us an example?

For one of our business-to-business clients, we developed a position that emphasized how the company works closely with its customers to reduce costs and production setup time. The client used a variety of internal media to educate its employees about setup time reduction in its own manufacturing facilities, created employee-client cost-reduction teams, and even created a setup time-reduction institute on its Web site.

Even if you have a unique, compelling and credible position, how do you get the message out in such a ‘noisy’ environment?

The key to getting your company’s message heard is developing an integrated marketing effort. You need to coordinate your advertising, Web site, brochures, distributor training and motivation, employee communications, word-of-mouth and telemarketing scripts. Then you need to translate all of this into a campaign focused on specific, targeted customer groups or segments.

We talked earlier about customer needs. What can a company do if it has a diverse set of customers with different needs?

In the world of branding, we often talk about brand architecture. This concept addresses how many brands a company requires and the relationship among those brands. My default position is, the fewer brands the better. Using a single brand costs less, is easier to manage internally and easier to understand externally.

However, your question is astute because many markets today are fragmented. We have a client that sells nail guns to consumers, contractors and industrial users. Each of those groups is composed of multiple subsets. In a perfect world, you would stretch your single brand to cover all those groups. In reality, finding a single compelling message for such diverse groups is difficult. Many companies often develop new brands when a single brand simply won’t due. Toyota’s launch of the Lexus brand is a classic example.

How does a company with multiple brands coherently communicate different messages to different markets?

The answer is complex, but one key is to carefully coordinate which brands are sold through which distribution channels. In my Toyota/Lexus example, Toyota recognized the premium or luxury message it wanted to communicate with its Lexus brand would be undercut by the middle-class nature of its existing dealerships. To carry the Lexus brand, Toyota required its dealers to establish separate Lexus-branded dealerships that oozed the luxury image.

Can’t companies just outsource their brand work to advertising or public relations agencies?

Some agencies do stellar work. However, many agencies–particularly those that work for smaller companies–are often more comfortable designing brochures or writing press releases than developing overall brand strategies. Brand strategy reflects a company’s overall mission and the vision of the CEO. While advisers can help, the true success of any brand strategy is the creation of an idea that uniquely and credibly solves key customers’ compelling problems.

Brand marketing seems so complicated. No wonder big businesses pay millions of dollars to have marketing companies build their brands for them.

As a small business owner, how do you build your unique brand identity without spending a lot of money?

No matter how great your search engine ranking is… no matter how huge your traffic is from your online and offline marketing activities… you’re putting your small business at risk, if you do not set yourself apart from your competitors.

Think about it! When your prospects use search engines to find some information about your business, product or service, what do they get? A description and link to your site in addition to those of your competitors’ sites — sometimes MILLIONS of them!

Your prospects are always just a click away from all of your competitors’ sites. Even if your site initially gets the new visitors, what will keep them coming back to your site instead of going to your competitors? Nothing… unless you have a powerful brand!

It’s not that different for your business in your local community. Your prospects will usually see your business advertising or directory listing surrounded by your competitors’ ads or listings. Even if your customers choose to buy from you because of your low prices or any special offer, what will keep them from going to your competitors next time? Nothing… unless you have a powerful brand!

How Do You Build a Unique Brand Identity That Can Set You Apart From Your Competitors?

Your small business has to be better than or at least different from your competitors in order for your prospective customers to choose you over them. If you don’t see a difference, create one; so, you can set yourself apart from your competitors.

You can set yourself apart by having better quality, price, service, integrity, reputation or a combination of different factors. You can set yourself apart from the others by being remarkable.

If you haven’t started your business, you still have a lot of flexibility for setting yourself apart from your competitors. You can learn a lot from their mistakes and whatever is working for them.

Find any market niche unfilled by your competitors or find any unsolved problem. Try to be the BEST SOLUTION for the worst problem that your prospective customers are having. Better yet, try to create and market your product or service as the best “pain killer” for the most excruciating pain your prospective customers are having.

Focus on the narrowest niche possible. Devote your resources on being the best in that niche. If your customers think of you as a specialist, you will maximize your income!

To start your research of what’s out there, you can google the keywords related to your business. For example, if you want a business related to dog-grooming, you can google “dog grooming” and check out what your competitors are doing. Find out what’s working for them and what’s not working.

Instead of just joining the crowd, you can set yourself apart by starting a “mobile dog-grooming service.” You can narrow your niche further by promoting and branding your business as a “mobile dog-grooming service for pampered pets.”

This unique brand identity can set you apart from other dog-grooming services. If you provide good service, you can have a good chance of having customers loyal to your brand. With a unique brand identity, it will also be easier for your customers to remember you and refer your business to others.

Your brand identity doesn’t have to be a nice one. For example, the “Rich Jerk” is an Internet marketer who has chosen a unique brand identity that is not particularly pleasant, but it works very well for him. It’s easy to remember. It sets him apart from all the other Internet marketers.

Make a decision about your brand building goals before you start marketing your brand. You want to be clear as to what it is that you want to accomplish with your brand… what “image” you want for your brand. Once you have a unique brand identity, you will have to communicate your brand in all your marketing strategies consistently and repeatedly.

Select the best marketing strategies that can create increased awareness of your brand in your target customers. Communicate what is unique about your brand as often as you can. As your customers’ awareness of your brand goes up, your sales should also go up.

Why is Having a Unique Brand Identity Essential to Having a Successful and Profitable Small Business?

With millions of web sites and businesses out there, it’s hard to stand out. Your prospects are constantly bombarded with advertising messages from your competitors. How do you get your prospective customer’s attention? More importantly, how do you keep your customer’s loyalty? Building a unique brand identity is the secret to getting your customer’s attention and loyalty.

Having a powerful brand is essential to having a successful and profitable small business.

A powerful brand can influence your customers to buy your product or service over your competitors… even if they have to pay more for it. A powerful brand can influence your customers to think that no one else, but you or your company, can deliver the quality or the benefits that they want.

Branding helps your small business succeed by simplifying your customers’ decision — when they need your product or service… they need only to think of you.

For any business to succeed, branding is the key. The logo is the core aspect of branding that paves the way to a successful business. If you are looking to design a logo for your company, then choose your designing firm carefully. There are thousands of logo designing firms and choosing the reliable and professional firm is not very easy. Yet you can always keep an eye on certain things to ensure that you get the most out of your logo-designing firm.

Business Image

The logo symbolizes your business. A great logo is one that can sum up your entire business objectives within itself. People should be able to remember your business when they look at your logo. Just a glance at it should bring your products to their minds. For example, the way we think of Nike when we look at the Nike’s “Swoosh”. It is simple, but effective. You can make a complex logo, but if it fails to impress your customers, it does not serve its purpose.

Company Symbol

The logo should portray your company. The aim of your company and the target audience should be kept in mind while designing. Your logo represents your company. The faster you understand this fact, the easier it becomes for you to understand your logo. If you idolize class, then your company symbol should have simple and classy designs and colors. A flashy logo here will be a deterrent to your company.

Elegance

Designing a logo is a creative work and it takes the mind of a genius to design one that is different yet elegant. Herein lies the secret of your business success. Your logo should be quite different from your competitors yet easy to remember. But make sure that in quest for uniqueness, your designer does not end up creating complicated logos, which your customers fail to remember.

Indelible Impression

Your logo should possess the quality to remain etched in the minds of the people forever. If you use bright and flashy colors that are in today, they might be obsolete in the years to come. So make sure that your logo designers create a timeless identity that would represent your company in the years to come.

Personal Branding is about the greatness in you coming out. It’s about the talents in you bursting forth. You were brought into this world to do something special and to make a difference. You must bring the real you out for the benefit of others. Your strengths, passions, skills, values and uniqueness must emerge.

Here’s the Do Your Brand™ Exercise to help you develop your Personal Brand.

Write your name at the top of a piece of paper. Draw a line underneath your name. Under that line, write down every word that comes to your mind when you look at your name.

After you complete your list, it’s time for honesty. Do the words you’ve written capture a unique, valuable and authentic Personal Brand? If not, you need to sell yourself on yourself and uncover and examine the unique strengths, skills and capacities that you were put here to share. If your list isn’t full of empowering words and images, you have got work to do. Your Personal Brand is in serious disrepair. I can assure you that your co-workers, customers, clients, bosses and your significant other have feelings for you that reflect what you are projecting.

Do Your Brand™ question: What’s are your core strengths?

Do Your Brand™ question: What are your short-and long-term goals?

Do Your Brand™ question: What is your Unique Personal Proposition?™

Do Your Brand™ action: What is your Unique Personal Proposition?™

Do Your Brand™ action: Review Your Personal Mission Statement

The Wikipedia defines insurance as “the equitable transfer of the risk of a potential loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a reasonable fee.” In other words, a consumer transfers the risk of a potential loss to an insurance company for a fee, so that when such loss does happen, the insurance company covers it.

The insurance company makes its money on the low probability of similar losses happening to different consumers, and consumers receive protection from sudden losses. In theory, this is an ideal risk-sharing arrangement with a potential `win-win’ for all parties.

In India though, insurance companies have never been known for their eagerness to settle insurance claims. Several consumers have found representatives of insurance companies to be insensitive, rude and bureaucratic - with no understanding of the concept of risk sharing and insurance.

In what is probably the most shocking consumer case involving an insurance company, the National Consumer Redressal Commission had to remind one of the largest insurance companies in India about the origins of insurance and the need for insurance officers to change their attitude in dealing with claims.

Pradeep Krishna had taken a life policy, which included `accident benefit’, signifying that in the event of the consumer suffering some permanent disability due to an accident and such disability affects his ability to work and earn a living, the insurance company would pay him money. The insurance policy document listed out various kinds of accidents and categories of permanent disability.

Claim rejected

Unfortunately, Krishna was involved in an accident on a railway track leading finally to both his arms being amputated. As his loss “affected his ability to work and earn a living,” he filed a claim for compensation. The insurance company instantly rejected the claim saying that amputation of both arms did not constitute permanent disability!

Krishna filed a complaint before the District Consumer Forum. The Forum examined the complaint papers and found them in favour of Krishna. They directed the insurance company to pay the amount promised in the policy. In response, the company appealed to the State Consumer Commission. They lost again.

Unwilling to review their `rejection’ in light of the orders of the Consumer Forum/Commission, the company went on to file a further appeal before the National Consumer Redressal Commission. The National Commission was not amused by this attitude of the insurance company. They looked at the policy document in detail and found that since the policy stated that money would be payable if the disability was permanent and since the list of permanent disabilities included amputations, the company was clearly wrong and unjustified in rejecting the claim.

The National Commission went on to severely chastise the insurance company officers and asked them to change their attitude towards insurance claims. The extreme reluctance on the part of several insurance companies to settle claims is clearly a problem of the sector, and one that must be tackled urgently. In the absence of an effective social security system, insurance and banking are often seen as the only two avenues to provide basic social security to citizens. And when such companies begin behaving in such an insensitive and pathetic manner, as in the case above, it defeats the very purpose of their existence. Such companies need to be reminded that it isn’t their money, but ours, and that it is their responsibility to create mechanisms that allow consumers to settle claims - quickly, efficiently and fairly.