Why Business Branding and Marriage May Have More in Common Than You Thought

A herd of cows are funneled into a chute waiting for the brand of their owner. Either a metal brand is heated in the fire or an electric brand is used to send a distinctive smell into the air. To some this may seem inhumane, but once the scar is healed it provides everyone with the visual knowledge of whom the cow belongs to.

A wife and husband exchange rings on their wedding day. Those rings are a visual brand indicating their commitment to each other.

In the first century temporary slaves who loved their masters and desired to serve them for the rest of their life had their ears pierced with an awl. The enlarged hold in their ear was a brand that told everyone they had a master worth their service.

These brands are a mixture of something physical and emotional. This is the picture of business branding as well.

What you do to brand your business is more than simply saying you have a business where goods and services may be found. If that's all there is to what you do then you will have a difficult time fixing your brand in the minds and hearts of consumers.

Just like the branding iron your connection with consumers must be so precise as to elicit a response. Every moment you seek to connect with consumers must provide a greater memory of your company.

Your customer service must reflect your commitment to the consumer and focus on their needs. Consumers will sniff out fraud and a lack of sincerity quickly and your reputation will hinge on your ability to demonstrate the care and commitment needed in a long-term relationship.

I've covered this in other articles, but I would like to clarify something here. A business brand is not a logo, a positioning statement or cleaver marketing. Branding is something that has been largely missing from online business.

Why?

In online business there has been a prevailing belief that you do not need to invest yourself personally in your business because you don't really interact with those who buy. This has left a sea of ineffective businesses offering their wares 24 hours a day with an automatic system that allows them to disconnect from the process.

For those who are serious about building a brand they will seek to make the experience their customers have at their website memorable. Like a married partner they will seek to benefit the other partner (consumer) more than almost anything else. They want to make sure that, pardon the analogy, the customer falls in love with the product.

The business owner wants their 'brand' on the consumer. They want the customer to be so impressed with their business they will not hesitate to recruit new customers.

These business owners know that every connection they have with their customer is another opportunity to imprint their brand on the consumer psyche.

Do you take your business this seriously? Have you ever thought about the need to develop branding techniques that make your business simply irresistible?