Is Your Brand Everything You Think It Is?

Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.
Jeff Bezos

by Skip Cohen
 
It's "Hump Day," and I like to keep it simple but, as always, relevant. Building brand awareness is something everyone talks about and claims to understand. Yet, so many of you don't pay attention to the ingredients that make up your brand...it's EVERYTHING related to you and your business. It's not just your logo, company name, or website design, just to name a few components.

 Brand is the holistic sum of customers’ experiences, composed of visual, tonal,
and behavioral brand components, many of which are shaped by interaction design.
Kate Kaplan

A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together,
account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
Seth Godin​

Marketing is about brand building. It requires a huge commitment and establishing and never-ending stream of awareness with your target audience. Professional photography isn't just about capturing great images, but creating an experience with each client. It's about exceeding their expectations and, as I've written so many times, making yourself habit-forming.

Too many artists focus on pricing and promotional packages, putting less emphasis on everything else in their business. Building a strong brand needs to obviously include a technical skill set for capturing stunning images and telling a client's story, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. Trust, integrity, communication, and accessibility are all key components—all of which go beyond your logo, website design, etc.

The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If you are not a brand you are a commodity. 
Then the price is everything and the low-cost producer is the only winner.
Philip Kotler

​I chose the quotes in today's post because each one hits on a different aspect of building brand awareness. Take a few minutes to think about your brand.

How can you make yourself stand out from your competitors? What can you be doing to make sure people recognize your business as their very best choice? What are people saying about you when you're not around? What are they thinking when they see your name or hear about you from another consumer?

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Your brand is a promise to your customers
...a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.
Jason Hartman