PPB December 2016

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A good branding exercise
considers the following areas:
1 You. This part of a branding
exercise addresses your vision,
mission, values and goals.
During a branding exercise
you address your backstory
and reason for starting your
business.Then, you look at
your process and structure to
understand how you do what
you do.These elements get to
the “you” in the brand story
and answer the questions:
Who are you? Why did you
start your business? What do
you want to be known for?
What do you really love to do?
2 Your customer. This part
of the branding exercise
identifies the character
traits of your ideal client. In
addition to demographics,
a good branding expert
will work with you on the
psychographics of your ideal
client as well. Not every
client is a good client for your
business, but understanding
the type of client that is can
make all the difference.Then,
it’s important to understand
what your customer’s
problemactually is so you
can see how you can best
solve it.This way you start
looking at your solutions
through the lens of your ideal
client. You answer questions
such as: What is your
customer’s problemand how
can you solve it? What does
the customer want? What
does the customer need?
Why does the customer need
help? Howmuch information
does that customer need
tomake a decision?
3 Your marketplace. It’s really
important to understand
what’s going on in your
marketplace now, and
why it’s happening. The
best way to understand
your marketplace is to
do a SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities,
Threats) analysis or a
Market Mapping exercise.
Both of these methods can
help you identify the gaps
in the marketplace as they
stand now. It can also show
you what voids are potential
market opportunities.
Questions you ask now
include: Why does your
marketplace need you
specifically? What solutions
exist already? How can
you position yourself in
a way that is unique and
targets the greatest group of
potential buyers?
Spending time answering these
questions gets you thinking about
your business and what you want.
What your customer needs. And,
why your marketplace is ready
for your solution.These pieces
of information are critical to
positioning your brand for success.
Most people think their brand
is the graphic representation of
their business such as the Nike
Swoosh, the McDonald’s golden
arches or some identifying icon
such as Tiffany’s iconic blue box.
But getting a brand to where
these examples are today took
years of perfecting the brand
and working on what the ideal
customer needs. It also took a lot
of work to understand what their
ideal clients were willing to do
to get it. What does your graphic
identity say about your business?
Your brand is your best
business asset because if you
spend time answering the
important questions in the three
areas of You, Your Customer
and Your Marketplace, you will
find that when it’s time to hire a
qualified graphic artist to create
your logo and graphic approach,
the process should go more
smoothly. And as anyone who
has worked with a graphic artist
or designer already knows, the
more information you provide
upfront, the better the result.
Now, what do you think your
company’s brand says about you?
What would your client say your
brand says about you? It’s never
too late to take control of your
brand and make it represent the
promotional products business
you really want to have.
Read Part 3 of this series
in the January issue on
marketing your business.
Abigail Tiefenthaler is the founder
of Aiken, South Carolina-based
distributor Sweetspot Strategies,
Inc. She is passionate about
helping entrepreneurs run the
business they really want to run.
With 30-plus years of business
experience, including 15 years in
corporate America working in a
variety of marketing capacities,
and 19 years running an award-
winning promotional products
business that put her in the top
five percent of the industry,
Tiefenthaler understands how
critical it is to play full out,
and use marketing for the
heavy lifting it is designed to
do. Her goal is simple: simplify
the marketing process and
eliminate confusion. Reach her
at .
Your brand is
your best business
asset because
if you spend
time answering
the important
questions in
the three areas
of You, Your
Customer and
YourMarketplace,
youwill nd that
when it’s time to
hire a quali ed
graphic artist
to create your
logo and graphic
approach, the
process should go
more smoothly.
28 | DECEMBER 2016 |
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