Change Your Mindset #10 - You have a brand whether you address it or not – Your logo is not your brand

Like it or not, you have a brand. Your institution is associated with certain qualities, products, people, and feelings, whether you’ve made conscious efforts to make it that way, or not. So, you might as well address the issue. You might as well take control of your brand.

Branding often gets confused with tools used to communicate with the public – logos, taglines, corporate colors, etc. Understandable, because “brands” are intangible assets, whereas logos and the like can be seen or heard, and they can be legally protected.

“Rebranding projects” often focus too much attention on those tangible pieces, and in doing so, they run the risk of ignoring the foundation upon which a brand is built. When you think “branding,” think beyond the logo, and focus on the intangibles. Focus on things like the way a customer feels when they think of your institution or the amount of trust they have that you have the customer’s best interests at heart. Think about what perceptions your customers and non customers have, and what about your institution helped to form them. Was it the logo, a clever commercial, or some great catch phrase? It’s more likely, that those perceptions were formed out of a combination experiences related to your institution.

Take, for example, the Maytag Man, who has been finding ways to fill his time for more than 40 years. The commercials are clever, but consumers have a funny way of deciding what they believe, and personal experience seems to always trump TV advertising. No matter how many naps the Maytag Man takes or how many games of solitaire he plays, a customer who has a bad experience with a Maytag appliance will form their own view of Maytag, and that view will likely be unfavorable.

The concept of a brand goes deep into your organization. It’s the essence of your institution as seen by the customer, and you can take control of it. You can take control of the messages that you send to consumers with every face to face interaction, every piece of mail, and every mouse click on your website. You can take control of the experience a customer has every time they enter your branch. You have no control over what your competition does, and you have no control over what the market does. But, you do have control over your brand.