What Makes a Good Brand?

Do you have a good brand? Do you want to have a good brand? Unfortunately there isn’t a silver bullet that will give you a good brand, but developing one can be done with some focus and proper planning.

There are actually several components to the creation of a brand that can be defined as “good”. For the brand to be good, each of the 8 components defining the brand must be done wholly and consistently. It is a process that does take some time and that’s why companies like 3 Cats Labs offers the services that we do. Our expertise allows for you to devote time to other areas of your business.

The 8 Components

A clear focus
Target audience knowledge
A defined mission
Knows the competition and own USP.
Identifies key values
Can tell their story
Has a defined brand identity
Consistent voice

In the following sections we’ll take a more detailed look at each of the above listed components and define just how each contributes to determining how good a brand is.

Dissecting What Makes a Good Brand

Has a Clear Focus

The brand needs to know what it’s about, what it’s offering its customer, and how it’s going to deliver its product or service to the customer. If your brand seems like it’s all over the place and it’s trying to offer everything under the sun to its audience, the brand will be weakened. This is especially true if you’re establishing a new brand that doesn’t have a long history and very little brand recognition.

Know Your Target Audience

Who is your audience? Millennials? Baby Boomers? Gen X? Or is it a more specific type of audience? Is it textile manufacturing CEO’s in Southeast Asia? You need to know to whom you’re conveying your message and whose attention you want. If your message doesn’t match the audience, then it’s likely your brand won’t resonate with the audience and it’ll be more difficult to build goodwill and recognition.

Have a Defined Mission

Your business or product needs a purpose. If you don’t know why your brand exists, it’s impossible to turn it into a good brand. A brand with an undefined mission will be aimless and wander through the market until it either discovers a mission or fails. Note: Making a lot of money is not a brand mission.

Know Your Competition and Unique Selling Point (USP)

To shape your brand you need to know the other personalities in your market. Look at the companies already operating that are comparable to your own. This will help you understand what your potential customers are responding to and this research can be incorporated into the development of your unique selling point.

Your unique selling point, or USP, is how you differentiate yourself from others in the market. The USP is what makes you special and is used to inform potential customers why they should chose you over others offering similar services or products to your own. Defining and knowing your USP will be integral in communicating your brand to your audience and developing leads into actual customers.

Identify Your Key Values

What does your brand value? What do you want your brand to value? A company or brand today needs to have values. Without knowing what’s important to your brand and how that translates into messaging your audience, your audience won’t know what your brand stands for. Your values don’t need to be grand and noble. Service, trust, and other one word values can be a part of your brand from the start and over time become fully associated with your brand.

You Can Tell Your Story

No matter how long your brand has been around your brand has a story. When starting your brand won’t have a long history and story like a brand that has been around for 100 years. However, you will still have the story of how your brand came to be and what inspired your business or brand to be created.

The trick is that you need to be able to tell your story in a way that engages your audience and makes people feel connected to your brand. This process might take some writing and rewriting, but it can be done.

Defined Brand Identity

This can’t be wishy washy. You need to know have all aspects of your brand defined. Colors, logo variations, customer service style, communication style, office culture, and all other aspects. Your brand is your business personality and just like someone who doesn’t have a personality that’s al over, an all over brand is confusing.

A Consistent Voice

Your band’s message and tone needs to be consistent and steady. This doesn’t just mean the text on your website and in your brochure. This extends to email communicative aspects. Visual imagery, email communications (internal and external), the way staff communicates with customers and with each other. Also pay attention to social media posts and blog styling.