Don’t Let Your Brand Get Panned: Avoid These Mistakes

The way you develop the brand of your company is going to have big impact on its overall success. Don’t make the sorts of mistakes that could see everything crashing down!

Having an indefinable brand

Your brand should be definable. If you’re unable to define your brand, then you’ve got a pretty big problem! Your brand isn’t just how customers perceive you as a result of your business practices. Your brand is defined by the logos you use, the colour schemes you employ, the taglines and fonts and imagery and “voice” of your marketing. See your brand as a character that you can actually describe to others.

Relying on buzzwords

So your service is “award-winning,” huh? You’ve got a lot of “best-selling” items in your store? You need to be careful not to seem vague when you’re trying to sell your product. It should be crystal-clear what your company does. It’s better that your brand communicates precisely what it is you’re good at, instead of trying to inflate your company’s reputation with self-congratulatory copywriting. The writing associated with your brand should be just like the general image: clear, unmistakable, with your real value proposition at front and centre.

Not considering brand ambassadors

No, they’re not the same as a spokesperson. Whether the spokesperson is someone in your company (maybe even you!) or a paid celebrity, a brand ambassador is someone who is incredibly engaged in your brand. They’re not just there to wear a t-shirt with your logo on it when loads of people are looking. They’re there to learn about your brand intimately; they’re someone who customers can engage with and connect to. Companies like Krulive can help you out with brand ambassadors if you need them.

Forgetting to protect your brand

You’ve got to be tough when it comes to protecting your brand. When people see the visual signs associated with your company, they should really only be thinking about your company. If some other company is stealing elements of your brand, then you need to take action. If you’re not policing your brand in this way, then you could find yourself defeating the entire point of the endeavour!

Going too far with the changes

Consistency is incredibly important when it comes to your brand. This is especially important when it comes to the visual styles. Your colour schemes shouldn’t just up and change if the original ones are highly recognizable. A lot of companies make their logos more modern by smoothing out the edges or changing the font ever so slightly. But you’ll rarely see a company actually fundamentally change the actual images. Just look at the history of the Coca-Cola logo – in nearly a century, it’s never strayed too far from its original look!

Not learning from the mistakes of others

Some of the biggest and best companies out there have made some serious mistakes when it came to their branding. Seriously, some of them are embarrassing. Sometimes, the best way to avoid mistakes is to learn more about the mistakes of others. Give it a read, if you can see through all your cringing.