Industrial Branding: What Makes a Strong Brand?

The term “brand” originated from the practice of using a scorching iron to “brand” a unique symbol into the hides of livestock so ownership could be determined.  In the 20^th century, companies began calling their logos their “brand.”

A logo is just the beginning

Today, a “brand” means much more than a logo.  At its most basic level, industrial branding is a consistent presentation or visual identity of a company: its tagline or slogan, stationary, brochures, website, social media pages, and any other representation of the company.  If consistency is achieved in all of these areas, a company can build “brand recognition.”  This is about as far as it goes on the industrial branding ladder in most manufacturing or industrial service companies. In fact, many smaller companies fail even to reach this step of the ladder.

Consistency is critical

When we do a brand assessment with a client, a good way to determine how much work we have ahead of us is to collect as many business cards as possible from individuals in the company, in all of their locations; the stationary for every location; marketing literature; print ads; any other printed forms; and also pull up their website and social media pages.  We spread it all out in front of us and look for a consistent representation of the logo and tagline; a consistent style; consistency in color and font use; and many other factors.  Is it all there? Or do all the various pieces look like a mish mash of variations using the same basic logo design?

A consistent presentation of the brand identity is key to building brand recognition.

Companies with strong brands have a strong sense of purpose and identity

The visual brand identity is just the first step in building a strong brand. For a company to reach the top of the brand ladder, there has to be a much more purposeful and strategic determination of what the brand stands for.

• What is your company’s ultimate purpose?
• What are its values?
• What is it you will promise to every single customer and consistently deliver?
• How are you different from your competitors?
• What is the first thing you want customers to think of when they hear your company’s name?

These are not questions that are easily answered.  After they ARE answered, the next question becomes: how well are we living up to what we SAY our company stands for? Unless you’re a one person company, there should be input from different levels of your organization and your customers. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can do this by yourself.  One individual’s perception of your business may be very different from the perceptions of others.

Strong brands are built with a brand strategy

Every company has a “brand,” even if they do nothing at all.  It lives in the minds of your customers and every person that comes in contact with your company. How you manage your brand is your “brand strategy.”

Some marketing firms make outrageous sums of money going through a complex process of delivering a brand strategy to a business that includes focus groups, surveys, and other forms of extensive research. For most small to mid size industrial companies, it doesn’t have to be this complicated.

However, if you ever want your “brand” to go beyond “recognition,” you will have to go through a process in order to determine what your brand stands for; then commit to it from the CEO on down through the ranks. Every employee in the company needs to not only understand what the brand stands for – they also need to understand how their position or role in the company delivers the brand promise.

A company has any number of opportunities to fulfill its brand strategy on a daily basis.

• What does it sound like when your phone is answered?
• What experience does a person have when they walk in your front door?
• What messages do your sales people deliver, either on the phone, or in person? Are they consistent?
• Do all of your visual communications evoke the same style, image, and messaging?
• How do your sales people look when they call on a customer? Perception is reality: sloppy people communicate sloppy business dealings.
• If you’re a manufacturer, what does a customer or prospective customer see when they walk into your plant, and what image does it present?
• If you have fleet vehicles, is there a consistent look that lines up with the brand image?
• How do your sales or customer service people react when there is a problem, or an unhappy customer?

Unfortunately, in most small to mid-size industrial companies, the “brand” is allowed to grow without any strategy or direction.  A company’s brand should be one of its greatest strategic assets. Maybe it’s time for your company to go through a brand assessment and start managing your brand, rather than allowing your customers to manage it at will.

In Part 2: Can “branding” effect industrial buying decisions?