The Key to a Corporate Brand

The business world is more competitive than at any other time. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) approximately 543,000 new businesses get started each month but more employer businesses shut down than start up each month! That’s a surprising fact given the current perception held by most people that larger employers are a safe bet to work for.

Many financial and economic dynamics are driving this surge and impacting how a business can build new opportunities to keep pace with this change. For a business in today’s market there is an absolute requirement of knowledge of how to best build a corporate brand. It’s not an easy task since there are so many competitive businesses to take into account.

Unlike a personal brand that centers around one individual with one set of values, a corporate brand is more complex as it leverages many different parts of the business in most cases in many different markets.

The fact of the matter is, with a highly focused, purposeful brand strategy, even the most complex businesses can succeed if they follow some simple ways to build their brand:

Not a solo project. Nor should it be left up to a few marketing folks inside a business. Having everyone’s input from inside a business where his or her opinions can be heard and evaluated will slow down the process for the better. Far too many “brands” come to fruition and are quickly torn down and changed just as quickly because they are not well thought through from all angles. Building a corporate brand is much more football than golf!

Not for the timid. If you’re not willing to be something or do something different than your competitors, you should get off the team and go work at one of your competitors. Taking risks is not something you avoid; it’s a major key to making your brand stand out. So many businesses stall themselves into inaction and allow their competition to steamroll over them by seizing an opportunity when they saw it.

Not for the slow. Good or bad, the world works millions of times faster today than it did just 10 years ago so learning how to move quickly is another key you’ll need to grow your corporate brand. It takes tenacity to start something but it usually takes far more to keep it going. Moving fast can help build momentum. Without it, many of the business failures mentioned at the beginning of this post can be attributed to not knowing what to do and when to do it, or vice versa, quitting on an idea before it’s had time to take off.

When a team works together in unison it can always accomplish more than a solo artist if they work together and not against each other. Success comes to teams who appreciate each team member equally regardless of their rank or experience. Everyone’s best thinking is needed because the market is made up of the same type of people you are working with. With everyone pulling in the same direction it’s a lot more fun and productive and it will keep your brand in the mix for a much longer time.

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Tom Wants To Hear Your Branding Issues:
Tom Marin, Managing Partner of MarketCues, wants to hear from you! Follow MarketCues on Twitter for branding and social media tips, as well as the latest trends. Tom also welcomes emails, new LinkedIn connections, calls to (407) 330-7708 or visit www.marketcues.com. How can he help solve your branding issues?

Note: If you are a printing company or product/services company serving the print-media market, and would like to be considered for a feature in this blog, please contact Tom Marin for an interview.