One of the challenges we face as we communicate about what we do is that so many of the words we use aren't understood well. Brian's post from a few weeks ago talks about that a bit - it reflects the passion that we have for what words like "brand" mean to us and why we believe they are important.
But where does that passion come from? Are we just pumped up about the terms? Or is there more to it than that?
There's definitely more to it, and in the case of the word "brand", it's this:
Behind our passion is a firm belief that no matter if you are for-profit or not-for-profit, good branding helps you achieve key organizational goals.
For instance, good branding makes and saves you money.
It makes money by ensuring that you communicate effectively. When you understand the overall picture of your organization and you develop every aspect of your brand image in such a way that it reinforces itself in every medium, right down to your product, you will build recognition, which, coupled with a good product/service, will result in greater success for your organization.
It saves you money by allowing you to generate a look-and-feel that you can leverage over time and work within, instead of having to start from scratch on a new campaign every year.
So we're not just talking about a fluffy term, we're talking about real, organizational change and improvement. We're talking about learning how to communicate honestly, with quality and consistency and then doing that frequently - the four pillars of an effective brand.
It's no different than what I think each of us as individuals strive for as well. We aim to be honest. We try to be the best that we can be. We want to be known as consistent and trustworthy and we want to achieve all those goals all the time. Of course, no one is perfect, and neither is any organizational brand, but that's not an excuse to not try at all.
So if you ever wondered why we go on-and-on about this stuff all the time, perhaps now you have a better sense. And if, along the way, I found the right words to convince you of the importance of branding, well, then let's talk. It promises to be a fruitful conversation.
