The brand development process begins with your image. Is your image what you want it to be? Is it accurate? Do you even know what it is? I am speaking about businesses, services and products. You have heard the adage— “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” It is not true! You do judge a book by its cover. We all do. That is why your image is so important.
Back to my question…how do you know what your image is? Have you asked anyone? What do your customers and prospects say when they are talking about your service and your products? Do you know why they think what they do? Is it how you want people to think about your business?
Your image, like your brand, is what your customers think it is. I believe that the term ‘image’ has a bad connotation with a lot of business people. Sally Ride was being interviewed on NPR about her position at NASA after her astronaut career ended. She said she was “trying to change the image, but that sounded really superfluous…” NASA didn’t believe it was important to control their image. They felt it was fluff. And that may be why they will cease to exist. Engineers and accountants have told me over the years that “we don’t want anything cute or funny or warm and cuddly, we’re engineers (accountants) and we don’t think that way.” They want to believe everything is black and white. Maybe it is for them. It is not the same for everyone. Your focus should be on how you want your customers to think.
Some people believe that creating an image for a company is a manipulation—and it can be. But it is like wearing a well-tailored suit or a woman with makeup that accentuates her beauty. Yes, it is manipulative to the extent you are trying to make a favorable impression. Image and brand are often used interchangeably. The brand development process is very visual because it is a fact that “we buy with our eyes.” However, your brand is really more inclusive as it is your customer’s perception and experience of your company, its products, and services. A brand is the essence of a company.
A brand makes it easier for your customer to make a favorable decision about your product or service because a brand is a belief, their belief. A brand is not a slogan or a particular style of graphics or colors, or a unique design or song or jingle. But it is all of these things that create an experience or an emotion.
If you want to improve sales… change your image. Change your image and you change the way your employees think about the company and the way they treat customers. Change the image and customers perceive a difference in the brand. Change your image and you will change how everone perceives you including your competition. The most effective and easiest way to refurbish an old brand is to change the image.
Good design is essential…”We buy with our eyes.”
About Ken Gasque
Ken Gasque is a brand developer, marketing planner and designer. Ken works with small companies and Fortune 500 companies who recognize the need to differentiate their products and services to stand out in a cluttered market. Ken is a highly visual, outside-the-box-thinker on advertising, branding and marketing—his work reflects his belief that “We buy with our eyes.” Ken writes and lectures on brands, design, images and brand development.
