Power of Brand
Decades ago branding was mostly a name – a catchy slogan, colorful or classy sign, mascot, or graphical design (logo) that quickly identified a company’s products or service. A company’s brand helped differentiate a company from its competitors.
You want that mental picture to be an attractive, accurate LABEL. Today, a brand isn’t just visual. It includes perceptions (feelings) consumers experience when they see, hear or think of your company – the mental picture of who you seem to be, and what you as a company represent to them and other consumers. Because once attached, labels are hard to remove and replace!
Branding is not only about getting consumers to select YOU over another broker, but getting prospects to see you (and CBC Metro Brokers) as the sole and/or superior solution to their commercial real estate needs or desires.
A strong brand identity + reputation + consumer perception should help you:
- Clearly deliver your message.
- Confirm yours and company’s credibility.
- Emotionally connect prospects with you, your product or service.
- Motivate buyers to buy (renters to lease) confidently.
- Create user loyalty (repeat and referral business).
Your brand should be a guide to understanding your business objectives; enabling you to align a custom marketing plan alongside those objectives and business strategy. Branding is an expression of who you are as an organization, what you offer, and how competently you perform. To succeed in branding, you must first discover the needs and wants of your customer, then periodically review (update) them. This is achieved by using the brand consistently, and integrating brand strategies at every point of public contact. As more and more consumers identify with you, your brand will live within their hearts and minds. Branding thus becomes the sum total of their personal experiences and interaction with you, along with the experiences, interactions, perceptions, and “word of mouth” of others – some of which you can influence, or cannot. Improper, inadequate or inconsistent branding can be hurtfully counterproductive. Did the product or service perform as expected? Was the quality as good as promised or better? How was the service experience? If you can get positive answers to these questions, you’ve created a loyal customer.
Brand not only creates loyal customers, but loyal employees. Brand gives them something to believe in, something to stand behind. It helps them understand the purpose of the organization or the business.