Perhaps we can help clarify what brand is exactly and what branding actually means.

Great stuff. I know several of my clients have thought that having a logo was the brand.

That's right, a lot of people do. But there is so much more to it than that. A logo is just a visual symbol really and usually has the name or initials of the company in it. It may also incorporate the colour scheme that has been chosen so that it will become instantly recognisable.

Talking of which, did you see that Cadbury tried to trademark the purple colour that it has used for its packaging for the last 100 years but lost a court battle with Nestle? That's how important colour can be in making a product stand out.

Yes, I also heard that KitKat were trying to trademark their four finger chocolate bar but that they were also unsuccessful. We certainly do associate brands with certain colours. But more of that later because we actually need to have a brand strategy before we can think about creating a logo.

Yes, back on track. So, branding – what is it? And how do you decide which is the right branding strategy for your business?

Well, basically branding is your statement to the customer about what you do. I think brand is who you are and marketing is your message. You own your marketing whereas your consumers own your brand. So you want people to know what they can expect not only from your brand and you need to think how you want your product or service to be conveyed. It's saying this is who we are and what we want you to know about us. A brand is the image you portray.

I like that, it's simple! So that's kind of like a mission statement and I guess you could say branding is why, marketing is how but what about strategy? It's not the kind of thing you just throw together when you start out in business?

No, it certainly shouldn't be! This needs some careful thought because you may well be spending money on a logo design which is going to go on your website, stationery, packaging and marketing materials. So you have to get it right.

What needs to be included then?

So, to start with, there needs to be some key questions answered such as:

What is your company's mission, aims and objectives?

What makes your products or services stand out from others?

If you already have customers, what do they think about you?

What qualities do you want your customer to remember about your company?

Listeners can go back to podcast 4 which was all about What Makes Your Customer Tick for some tips on how to find out what your customers think about your business.

Good idea. When you've defined what your brand is and what it stands for, you can then start creating some brand messages.

How do you mean?

What are the most important statements that you want your customer to know? Have these written and defined and they can be used a foundation for all your marketing materials.

I would also recommend creating what are known in PR as ‘Boilerplates'.

Sounds like something to do with trains!

I know, I have no idea why – it's probably a printing term! But basically, they are the statements about your company or organization that an Editor might find useful when you send a Press Release. But you don't put the information in the body of the Press Release. So, background information really. And I would suggest having a selection of 50, 100 and 150-word statements at the ready that can use whenever you need too.

So thinking back to podcast 5 about Networking, could they be adapted to create a juicy intro?

They could indeed! Because they say what you do in a succinct way. Any road up, back to branding – once you've created some key messages, what then?