Girl Scouts, Texas Oklahoma Plains

December 17th, 2008

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The Importance of Branding in a Weak Economy

December 17th, 2008

Leaders in the government tell us that we are heading into a weak economy. A few weeks ago it finally became official, we are in a recession and some think it will get worse possibly heading into another “Great Depression”. I highly doubt the “Great Depression” part. Whatever your thoughts on the future economy, the length of the down turn or the severity, there are tried and true actions businesses can take that work in any economy. Focusing on your company’s brand is one of the most important actions you can take.

What is Branding? Wikipedia says, “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes products and services from competitive offerings.” Branding or more precisely, effective positive branding, is the process of honing a company’s message, look and symbols that consumers will remember in a clear concise way that inspires your customers to take action.

In a weak economy, the pursuit of creating a strong brand can produce more positive results over time than that same pursuit would during a steady or strong economy. Here’s why: Most of your competitors retract spending, focus only on hunting new prospects or concentrate only on trying to maintain their current client base. Businesses who also concentrate on simplifying their message, creating strong symbols, and visuals can gain a huge advantage over their competitors. Over time, you will have a simple, strong, repetitive visual representation of that message that your customers will learn to trust.

During these hard times, your customers cut back on frivolous spending and their dollars become even more important. During these times, customers tend to take less risk. If they have learned to trust or “feel” your brand provides a clear-cut benefit, they will spend or put you on their list of things to spend money on when the economy turns around. These customers will put you ahead of competitors that are confusing or project a message that is less than satisfactory. You have concentrated on brand and marketing efforts while your competitors are in “panic mode” trying to maintain neglecting the real message your brand is sending.

Every business has a brand whether you have a fancy logo or not. Your company, your website, your product, your business card and your marketing materials all send an underlying message before your potential clients read or listen to your 30 second elevator pitch. What message is your brand sending? At Creative Magma, we believe that it is better to have no website and no marketing materials than to put out a message that communicates the wrong message.

Your consumer or client makes a decision about your company in the first seconds of landing on your website or viewing your marketing materials. In many cases, your website is where your most interested consumers spend the most time with your brand message. What message are you sending? After all, perception is reality!

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