Whether you are a small business entrepreneur, a CEO, Marketing Director, or Communications Manager for a larger organization, internal branding is an essential ingredient to reach your true growth potential. We love to transfer practical, yet powerful brand-building information to visionary organizations who are passionate about defining, creating and building their brands from the INSIDE OUT.

Below are some common questions and our brief answers to assist you in your efforts to leverage your brand strategy and inspire you to consciously elevat your brand! If you have more questions, please connect with us!

#1 Q: Why is branding so vital to businesses who want to reach their next level of growth?

BA GROUP: Remember, EVERY business has a brand; GOOD, BAD, OR INDIFFERENT.What is yours? If you don't know, then how do your employees know? How are you showing up according to your brand in every action your organization if you don't have it defined?

Without a clearly defined message that is also congruent to the experience, marketing dollars, through any venue, are simply diluted. The customer is subconsciously seeking a definition of the business/service/product that they can put in their minds and categorize. If the business doesn’t provide that clear definition, then the customer perceives “disconnect” or a jumbled message, hence the level of trust is not established, thereby weakening customer loyalty and perceived value in the brand. Thus, in their minds they can go 'anywhere' for the same product or service.

The top reason consumers move on to other businesses is INDIFFERENCE. They are not 'Wowed' by anything specific with a product or service, and their emotion is at a neutral state - they could care less. A perfect opportunity for your competitors to create distinction. So clarifying and delivering your unique message throughout your external marketing and internal processes is key to being 100% present and authentic with your brand, thus increasing trust, loyalty, and the coveted BRAND INSISTENCE!

#2 Q: What is the one common brand failing for small to medium sized-businesses?

BA GROUP: Not taking the opportunity to clearly define the essence of their brand platform in terms how they want to show up. And behaving in ways that continue to affirm that essence, or Brand DNA, to their own employees and customers. For example, getting crystal clear about the brand standards relative to let’s say customer service or quality. What are the standards that the business will strive to meet and exceed at every customer touch point? Another example might be developing a style that creates a distinctive personality associated with the brand.

A good example of this is Southwest Airlines. Their distinctive 'personality' shows up as unassuming, fun and humorous when servicing their customers. The most common mistake made by businesses is not clarifying their standards, style, core values, or even the competencies of the brand, and orientate their entire employee base and key stakeholders to these key brand attributes. These attributes help 'set the rules' for doing business and are critical to building behaviors that affirm the brand and increase customer loyalty.

#3 Q: What do you find is the one most difficult thing for small to medium sized business when it comes to promoting their brands?

BA GROUP: Consistency, hands-down. We find that most businesses struggle with maintaining a clear, consistent message for a long period of time within their marketplace. They have a tendency to “try” a message for only a short period of time, then change it, try the new message for a short period, then change that. They can’t expect any consumer to “buy into” a product or service if the message keeps changing. By message, I mean a variety of things businesses do, from advertising, to their logo design, to how they treat their customers, their incentive programs, their return policy, everything. Consistency is king in branding — in fact it is one of the three most powerful characteristics of a strong brand.

Unfortunately, many businesses who send out a specific “message” externally, through marketing and advertising, websites, collateral, etc., don’t think about how they should make sure that same message shows up in every process, every procedure, and every interaction with the customer at the internal level as well. We've all experience a sales person not knowing the details of the promotion you came to them to investigate. This disconnect, we call “Cognitive Dissonance.” It occurs in the mind of the consumer when the messages they perceive, through their experience with the business, does not match up with the external advertising message expectations. We work with our clients to assure “Cognitive Resonance” within the customer experience. Consistency is so key to ensuring Cognitive Resonance.

#4 Q: How do you differentiate yourselves between a marketing/advertising firm?

BA GROUP: We are as night & day as it gets. We focus on guiding our clients through a step-by-step process that defines their unique internal Brand DNA. Then, we help them design systems and processes that work towards affirming their Brand DNA throughout the organization to achieve their long term goals. Rather than creating external messaging (as an ad or marketing firm would do) for a seasonal, or short-lived advertising campaign, our consulting focuses on the defining the core brand promise and how that promise illustrates itself through every element within the business process.

We help our clients define their own brand, then assist in the creation of it (how it will show up), then in the building process (what steps to take), and finally we recommend and implement maintenance and equity generators for the brand. Although we create corporate identity design packages and consistent collateral materials — the concepts come from their completed Brand DNA template, in-depth consulting and information we extract from working so closely with our clients.

#5 Q: In your brochure you refer to “authentic brands.” What is an authentic brand?

BA GROUP: An Authentic brand is one that is truly consistent with its brand promise throughout every aspect of the business, both internally and externally. So for example, if the brand promise is premised on being the most convenient of services in a specific industry, then, to the customer, “Convenience” needs to “show up” and be affirmed in every action and contact the customer has with the business. “Convenience” needs to show up not only for the customer but also at the internal level with the staff and management. If you are not directly servicing a customer then you ought to be servicing those in the business who are so that everyone is delivering that “convenience” both internally and externally.

Authenticity is one of the most logical and seemingly simplistic strategies for small business growth, yet it is probably the most overlooked and “non-utilized” strategy in the small business arena. And on the other side of that, businesses cannot be 'authentic' without having done the due diligence necessary in defining who they are as a brand...that is why we pioneered the Brand DNA Journey.

#6 Q: Given your experience, what are the key strategies or criteria that ensure a successful brand?

BA GROUP: There are three extremely critical characteristics of a powerful brand: Consistency, Relevancy, and Distinctiveness. These 3-key ingredients make up the perfect recipe for successful brand positioning. But it goes much deeper than that. Again, the source of the perception of the brand platform and promise must be birthed from deep within the business, to include a brand vision and a compelling business case that everyone in the organization is aware of, passionate about, and embodies in every way, every day. Your employees are in every way a critical piece to the building and delivery of your brand experience.

A wonderful example of this is Starbucks and how Howard Schultz has captured the hearts and minds of his employees who capture the hearts and minds of their customers one cup at a time. The brand begins at an internal level well before the message is disseminated to the targeted audience. This is so that when the customer makes a decision to experience the product or service, based on the advertisement, his or her experience is affirmed with the initial perception acquired from the promotion – which is a term we call Cognitive Resonance (vs. Cognitive Dissonance).

CONTACT US: info@BRANDASCENSION.COM

© All Rights Reserved. Suzanne Tulien and Carol Chapman are Principals in The Brand Ascension Group LLC a leading-edge, multi-faceted, experiential consulting and training firm that partners with organizations in elevating their brands. Through their innovative Brand Elevation™ methodology, they help clients capitalize on the power of human perception and engage them in conscious internal and external branding practices to propel and sustain the growth of their businesses. They can be reached at www.BrandAscensionGroup.com. 719.265.1707; 719.748.2290.

Learn more about our Brand DNA methodology and how it can help you catabpult your brand's distinction and direction!

Contact us to for more information on the Brand DNA process at info@BrandAscension.com or 1.719.265.1707; 1.719.748.2290

DID YOU KNOW?...

In a recent annual survey on brands and branding by experts from top global brands, what was cited as the most critical aspect of successful branding?

(Read Answer to Question #3)

NEED SOME LOW COST,
EASY TO READ,
EASY TO FOLLOW STRATEGIES ON BUILDING YOUR BRAND,
RIGHT NOW?

(see Question/Answer #6)