November 7, 2014 /
Brent Niemuth, President / CCO

Brent Niemuth, President / CCO

Brand is a term you hear thrown around a lot lately. It seems to be the latest business buzzword. Everyone wants a strong and powerful brand. And rightly so. Your brand is one of the biggest assets you have, perhaps the biggest. There is a real value that can be attached to it. And just like any business endeavor, it’s an investment.

Building a brand doesn’t come cheaply.
But we’ve been witnessing a disturbing perception that direct marketers seem to have that having a brand is a CHOICE. Something you can choose to do (or not to do), like choosing to mail or not to mail, or choosing to add staff or not to add staff. Having a brand is NOT a choice. It happens whether you do anything about it or not.
You see, companies don’t own their brands, consumers do. Brands live in the consumer’s mind, not on a company’s spreadsheet. They’ll decide when, where and how they’ll buy from you. If they buy at all. They’ll decide what they think of you. You can only try to control or influence their perception the best you can. So if you choose to do nothing, your brand still exists in the consumer’s mind. They just don’t think much of it, or worse… they don’t think of it AT ALL!
There are two parts to this equation. First, there is the “brand,” which is a noun. It’s a thing. It’s the image that consumers have of you. It’s the sum of everything you do and everything you are. You can see it, sense it, engage with it. But if you do nothing to improve it or control it, consumers will form their own opinion. It happens regardless of your involvement. You can stand on the sidelines with your hands in your pockets, waiting and watching, doing nothing…and you will still have a brand. Why? Because a brand is not a CHOICE.

The second part of this equation is “branding,” a verb. It’s an action. It’s everything you actively do to control, establish, change, or differentiate the perception of your company, service or product. It’s an ongoing process that never ends. Your advertising, direct mail, catalogs, website, emails, corporate identity and on-hold message are all examples of branding. These things ARE a choice. You can choose to put them off and risk drowning in the sea of sameness, missing out on opportunities to be considered. Or you can choose to invest in branding,
thoughtfully crafting a unique message that speaks directly to the hearts of your customers, turning them into loyal brand evangelists.

Branding is the one investment you’ll make that will affect everything else you do. Your brand will touch every aspect of your company and every employee that works there.

How do you justify the cost of doing this work? Why should you spend money on this today? Is branding the right thing to do in this economy?

The alternative is to do nothing and risk everything. And the brands that make that choice will not survive.

Branding is not a choice, it is ESSENTIAL. Can you afford to do it? You can’t afford NOT to.

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