Creating a Brand

3. First Steps

Before you develop your brand identity, you have to assess your business, how it operates and the messages that you want to - and are able to - deliver consistently to your customers.

You must be realistic right from the start.

There are five key areas to consider.

3.1 Work out your business, product or service's core competencies.

• These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do.

3.2 Assess who your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they don't.

• For example, if they are driven by competitive pricing, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors.

3.3 Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business.

• Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message.

3.4 Define how favourably your business is viewed by customers and potential customers - this is your perceived quality.

• Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them?
• Low perceived quality will restrict or damage your business. High perceived quality gives you a platform to grow.

3.5 Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies.

The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch.

• For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies.