Your brand cuts deeper than your logo

In the old West, a brand was a cheap and effective way to mark cattle to signify ownership.  The brand was a symbol representing the cattle rancher or the ranch itself. Remember the Ponderosa from the TV series Bonanza? That’s the brand shown above.

Today, the word “brand” is often used instead of the word “logo” when referring to a company’s mark.  In reality your brand cuts much deeper. Your brand is the sum of your many interactions with your customers: how you treat them; the quality of the products or services you provide; how easy you are to do business with, and yes, what you claim in your advertising.

Arguably that was true in the old West.  A man’s brand symbolized his character, for good or for ill.

If you work for an airline that is habitually late on arrival and loses luggage, and whose employees are generally surly, your brand is “Hostile Airlines,” never mind what the ads and the signs say.

In our business we say that “90% of your brand is what you do, 10% is what you say.”

The way to build a successful brand is to cultivate excellence in your customer experience.  If you perfect that, you’re much farther along than a company with a stylized logo and good advertising, but with a mediocre offering.

When we’re called upon to help a company develop or evolve a brand, we begin by studying the company: how it behaves; its culture; how it prioritizes things and how it treats its customers.  We’re looking for patterns of behavior that represent its vision and character.  On occasion, we come across a company that understands its customers’ needs and earnestly strives to meet those needs through business practices and policies that provide clear direction across the enterprise.

When we discover that, magic happens.

We are able to formulate a brand platform that clearly articulates the company’s vision, brand byline, brand attributes and value proposition, which is easily summarized in a tag line.  This leads to creative that clearly distinguishes the company from the rest of the herd (back to the cattle metaphor).

Most importantly, the talk matches the walk.  The brand messaging is in lock-step with brand behavior.  Customer experiences reinforce what is expressed in advertising and promotion.  The company builds credibility and brand equity. 

As you refer to your company’s brand, reflect not only on what you say, but what you do.