4 min
A Multi-Layered Approach
Brand communication is an integral component of any business. It’s important that your brand properly communicates with its existing and prospective clients, as well as maintain internal communication.
To do this you need to understand the importance of a brand. It’s not just a logo and a slogan. Your brand, which is represented by these things, additionally represents your entire company, and your clientele as well. Mac users “think different”, and tie up some of their personal identity in the use of that particular computer.
The same phenomenon is seen with Windows users. Identity is tied up in the brand. You’ll find similar rivalries with Wendy’s and McDonald’s, or Target and Walmart—though that last one may not be a 1-to-1 comparison, given that Target usually sells their wares at a slightly higher cost than Walmart, catering to a different clientele.
Looking Closer
As a matter of fact, here we have a pretty good case-study pertaining to brand communication. Walmart communicates to its brand in an “everyday Joe” kind of way. The idea is that their department stores provide cost-effective goods, which allow buyers to save, save, save.
There is some “lip-service” to “image” here. Walmart does try to carry a variety of brands with differing qualities of the design. But cutting costs is their primary operational motif. Their essential brand hasn’t changed since it was introduced. It’s been “upgraded”, but it’s essentially the same as it ever has been.
Meanwhile, Target in recent years has been more interested in appearing trendy, and appealing to mass culture as defined by burgeoning fads. This has worked for them in the past, but sometimes it has not worked so well. As a matter of fact, their recent policy on bathrooms has actually lost the international chain millions of dollars.
See, the brand has specifically communicated something to its clientele. Now for a certain portion of the demographic, this change was excellent. For others, it was frightening. The question becomes: which demographic should be catered to in order that higher profits be experienced?
Well, in this case, you need to know the size of the demographic you’re catering to. Business is not about politics until politics become statistically measurable. At that point, the business must side with the demographic who will most profitably serve them, or through dint of political choice undermine their entire operation.
The Right Message
So for your brand to be most successful in a communications sense, you need to be sure that you communicate the right message to the right portion of your demographic. To that end, content creation and SEO makes a lot of sense. This is because SEO naturally comes with a great number of analytic properties, which can help you identify your market and what is most successful in that market—all while getting your name out there.
Brand recognition is the first hurdle you need to overcome before brand communication can occur. But you want a positive recognition associated with your brand. And you want that recognition to positively be associated with your operation on a subconscious basis. When existing and potential customers see your logo, they should immediately feel something—if you’ve done your job right, they should feel something positive.
Now it does make sense for you to keep your finger on the pulse of the times in terms of trends for purposes of communication; however, following all trends doesn’t necessarily make the most sense, as some will stay and some will go. PR firms are very careful to keep abreast of trends for purposes of effective outreach.
Now, speaking of PR, if you’re going to hire an agency to give your brand a relevancy, an impact, and an evergreen quality, which transcends ephemeral trends, you’re going to need to free up resources. That means finding areas where you can cut costs. One of those areas is merchant services.
Attaining Resources Without Spending More
If you’re unfamiliar with merchant services, this guide to merchant accounts can help clear things up—according to the site: “…payment processing is a core component and determinant of your company’s success.” Basically, every time your business does a credit card transaction, there’s a cost involved. If you can cut that cost in half, or even by a third, then you can take the recouped assets and turn them into brand expansion.
Brand expansion, brand optimization, and branding in general increase your visibility to clients, and when you use proper market research in such efforts, you’re likely to have a positive effect.
Keep in mind that brands are archetypal. They communicate with existing and potential clients on a subconscious level. As brands become larger, they must begin to take on the attitudes and ideals characterizing the majority of their demographic.
By saving money, a company can then focus on conducting studies to ensure they are taking the most effective approach to reach their demographic. This allows you to see how the market is changing and how you should structure your brand to remain relevant despite the trends. Remember the lesson of Target.
Listen To The Right Voices
Sometimes the loudest voices do not belong to the larger population, and listening to them could seriously impact your business while backing you into a political corner. The best advice here is to stay out of such dicey situations and remain as neutral as possible.
The bottom line here is that every decision you should make has to be calculated to professionally advance your business. This can involve mergers, changes, upgrades, or adherence to existing policy, which have already stood the test of time.
Change can be both good and bad. If your business seeks change just because the times seem to be transitioning, that’s a poor place to start.,
You want to adjust your strategy to increase profitability by serving your clientele, not by enforcing synthetic relevance. If you’re serving the people who make up a society, change will naturally occur. So with your brand’s communication, ensure that, above all, you communicate trustworthy stability over time.
Well done!
You’ve just learned about the importance of brand communication, and what it takes to do it right.
Next, check out this great article on context in advertising, and how to make sure your marketing message is taking context into the equation appropriately.