Branding for your business

Branding is a way of highlighting what makes your offering different to, and more attractive than, your competitors'.

A brand goes much deeper than just your company logo. Your brand is a customer's overall experience of your business. It includes your business values, personality and customer promise. You can influence your business' reputation through marketing and corporate identity. Branding affects every interaction you have with your customers and suppliers. This can include everything from your packaging to how you communicate on the phone.

You can create a good impression of your business through:

• design
• advertising
• marketing
• service proposition
• corporate culture

Branding is your attempt to use this perception to help your business perform better. Any business can benefit from creating an accurate brand, ie one that represents their true values. Therefore, it is important to always be clear about what your business stands for.

Your brand values

Successful branding is about promoting your strengths. You need to be sure that you can always deliver your promises using these strengths, sometimes referred to as 'brand values'. You can start by thinking about what your business is good at and what you believe in as a business. For example:

• the particular skills your business has
• your high-quality customer service
• the best value for money you provide in your marketplace
• your innovative approach

Every business wants to be a customer's first choice. Building and managing a brand can play a significant part in making that happen.