What is branding, exactly?
What do you think about chocolate? When you see the word in print or hear it spoken, there are probably some impressions that come to mind: sweet, creamy, indulgent, dessert. Now think about dill pickles. A different sensation emerges: sour, crunchy, spicy, lunchtime. Without benefit of consultants, research or graphics, each of these foods has a brand. Because a brand, in simplest terms, is what people think and feel about something. And — here’s the scary part — everything and everybody has a brand, whether it’s consciously created or not. A default brand is no less powerful than a brilliantly managed one. Just because you haven’t dedicated the resources or expertise to make branding your organization a priority, doesn’t mean you don’t have a brand. Your audience still has opinions and feelings about it. They just may not be the opinions and feelings you would like them to have.
So?
And all that matters for one simple reason: because opinions and feelings lead to behaviors. You may not be fighting for consumer market share, like Pepsi. And you probably don’t have $1.2 billion to invest in the task over the next three years, as Pepsi reportedly will. But, like Pepsi, you have to compete for behaviors that will further your goals in the marketplace. Instead of sweetened carbonated water, your organization is competing for membership, attendance, involvement and advocacy.
To win these goals you need people to understand and care about the things you stand for. You need them to know why you are different and better than other organizations who want the same things from them. You need them to nod inwardly with recognition every time they come in contact with your name, people or messages. In other words, you need a strong brand. Maybe you already have one, but how do you know? A comprehensive brand audit is one way to find out, and may be worth the investment in the long run. But you can take immediate action, with much less outside support, which will help you build a stronger brand by taking stock of a few critical attributes.
Inventory your tools
Your brand tools. Or brand portfolio, or brand platform or whatever label you have for the stuff you use to help communicate your brand to staff, board, membership, media and legislative audiences. In some combination, this arsenal should include:
Name. Meaningful, relevant (more on those below), legally protected, easy to pronounce and spell. It may have “long” and “short” (often acronym) forms, depending on usage.
Positioning statement. A few sentences that sum up the “who, what, how and why” defining your organization. It should hint at how you’re different and better than the other guys. It should not be your mission statement, which is a more internally-focused message that doesn’t usually resonate with the outside world as your positioning statement must. Sometimes this is called your “elevator speech.”
Tagline. Especially important for nonprofit branding. A consumer product may have the luxury of mass media saturation to connect its name and logo to its brand position. Assuming you don’t, a short phrase that evokes that position — and ties conceptually with organization name and logo — is a strong plank in your brand platform.
Key messages. Like supporting beams under your platform, key messages explain more about what and how your organization delivers the goods. Each message describes one topically-related goodie, e.g. “CXYZ offers a wide range of professional development opportunities for workers and managers in the XYZ industry.” These messages are often integrated with or followed by…
Defensible claims. Quantified, objective measures of the goodies outlined in the key messages, e.g. “one annual membership conference, two annual executive development seminars, monthly webinars on various topics and a weekly email blast of hot XYZ tips.”
Value propositions. Key messages and defensible claims are what you offer. Value propositions demonstrate what these mean to your audience. If you offer a rich array of professional development opportunities, your members (the audience) enjoy the competitive advantage (the value) of employees who are more effective in their jobs. These little nuggets come in handy whenever you are making a targeted appeal. Statistics and testimonials make them even stronger.
Style guide. In conjunction with a style bible such as AP or MLA, your style guide provides consistent reference for properly citing your organization and its issues in written communication. When to use your full name, when to use a short form, capitalization, punctuation and preferred terminology should all be covered. It might also include an “insider’s” glossary of industry terms or relevant pieces of legislation.
Spokesperson. The people and protocols you’ve identified (and prepared!) for media and other public inquiries.
Graphic standard. All of the ingredients that make up the “look and feel” component of your brand. Your logo, supporting graphics, fonts, colors and all of the guidelines needed to apply them consistently across all of your communications. Logo “don’ts” can be even more valuable in your standard than logo “do’s.”
Your brand platform may have these elements organized and labeled differently, but all of the functions outlined should be covered somewhere, preferably somewhere everyone knows to look, and included in the orientation of all new staff and consultants.
Meaning and relevance
With your platform at hand, take a closer look at its content. Are the tools you’re using to communicate your brand suited for the job? Does each “plank” align with your organization’s mission and values? Would your members agree that these messages, people and visuals reflect the two or three key things your organization represents? If your organization’s primary focus is professional development, your brand platform shouldn’t waste too much ink on advocacy, and vice-versa. You will only have tiny slivers of time and attention to get your message through. Make sure it’s clear and focused enough to hit your target.
Chances are you offer more than one thing to your audiences. You probably offer different things to each segment. If focus is critical to communication, make sure what you’re focusing on is relevant. What matters most to your members? Prospective members? Stakeholders? If you aren’t sure, ask. Informally poll a dozen randomly selected people from each area to test the water. You may even want to conduct focus groups to validate initial findings. If all your member cares about is networking, don’t waste precious resources bragging about education — especially if you offer more networking than another “like-minded” organization. Stake your claim! Tout all of the networking benefits you deliver, backed up by factual details and compelling images.
Make sure your brand is relevant in terms of context, too. A logo designed 20 years ago may not be as Web-friendly as your current and future communication strategy demands. Likewise, graphics that look gorgeous in full-color may fall flat if your current budget dictates economies in print reproduction. You may need professional help to update your graphic standard for the times, but it doesn’t have to be a huge expense or a from-scratch project. Outline your objectives, set a reasonable budget, interview contractors and get it done. Don’t let technical limitations weaken your brand.
Consistency
So your brand platform is complete, meaningful and relevant? Good. Now for the hard part:
- Don’t mess with it.
- Walk your talk.
Internally or externally, inconsistency is the enemy of branding. But consistency takes commitment, which takes understanding. Take care that your stakeholders understand the competitive value of consistent branding. Establish people and processes to help prevent message and graphic migration due to haste or ignorance.
Make sure your brand platform is conducive to consistency. Simplicity is the key here — a simple design standard that looks the same in print, online and in a variety of reproduction methods is preferable to a complicated system of elements that vary too widely across media for reinforcement and recognition. Much as it pains me to admit, an ugly logo applied consistently is better than a beautiful one that isn’t.
Finally, and this is the start of an article I’ll leave you to write based on your own assets and goals: Make sure that the promises you make in your brand communication are kept throughout your day-to-day operations. The last thing you need is to offer a valued member a beautiful piece of chocolate that turns into a zesty garlic dill as the member takes a bite.