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Many people believe that branding is about having a unique logo, but a brand is more than a logo, or a tagline, or a glossy brochure. Whilst a logo is a great way to communicate a powerful idea about your business and can increase the recognition of your company, leading brands such as Air New Zealand, Starbucks, Nike, and Apple Mac also recognise the need to deliver on the promise behind their imagery.

How does your business stack up? Does your imagery hold a message that is matched by your ethos, and products and services? A superior brand is a sum of all its parts - products and services, philosophy,

name, story, employee ownership, customer value, as well as visual identity. It is an integration of multiple components, and a means of differentiating your company’s products and services and gaining customer loyalty.

Your imagery will not work for you unless all aspects of your business consistently reflect and support your intended brand. Customers don't usually care too much what your brochure, your advertisement, or your logo looks like. The most powerful message is how does your company and its products and services emotionally connect with its customers.

This connection is not always about quality or range of products or services, but can be about values, status, story, relationships, and the inherent need to belong to a group. An effective brand must be flexible, relevant, have impact, and the ability to win the hearts and minds of customers. What do you need to do to build your brand? At the heart of a well-designed brand is a well-drafted and managed branding strategy and implementation plan.

People
As business owner or CEO you are the primary advocate and nurturer of your brand. You must be personally involved in brand development, but not solely. Your brand is only as good as the people behind it, and the people in front of your customers. Employees are the most critical touch point for your customer; therefore they are integral to the development of your brand. Also do not forget the voice of your customers in this process. Who knows more about your business than your customers and employees? Many businesses forget these accessible sources of valuable information in developing their branding strategy.

Brand development is an excellent channel for advancing your vision throughout your company. It allows you to involve, educate and align everyone around your objectives, values and future pathway. Take the time to effectively build a culture that mirrors your brand. Train your employees to represent that brand. Your employees interact every day with colleagues, customers, suppliers, competitors, and the wider community. They serve as your company’s most important brand ambassadors.

Name
You need a business name that is memorable and reflects the nature of your business, your products and/or services, is easy to spell and pronounce, and can be trademarked and registered as a domain name.

Logo
At the heart of a good brand is a professionally designed logo that is innovative, visually inspiring, and memorable. There is a need to take some risks here to stand out in a crowd, as your logo is your visual “face” and will feature on all company business cards, stationery, website, clothing, promotional materials, signage and so on.