To quote “the Brand Gap” your brand is what they think, not what you think. Whether or not the company is actively managing their brand, they still have one. The act of branding is managing where you stand in the consumer’s mind and that’s just as critical for a new startup as it is for the big wigs.

Branding is all about satisfying that niche demographic. Many companies can come across as “also rans” in the marketplace today. Creating a specialty category specifically for a certain market is how they can stand out right away. (Look at Dell computers for example. They could have been just another computer company but they broke ground on the mail order/custom business model and were hot very early in their life cycle.) Later, that position may expand or change, but the whole concept of positioning and brand is about owning a specific idea so, when people need that super specific product, they think of your company first and only your company.

Good post, Joel. I look forward to hearing about your research.

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Great insight as always man! Ur stuff is always good to listen to.

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I agree with the post by Jason. In regards to the designers quote “I feel that they have not reached critical mass to effectively deploy a branding strategy”, whether he likes it or not, they are branding. With or without a logo, they are branding. I don’t think a business can be too small for a brand strategy. In my experience with small business’ branding can help if for nothing else to separate them from the other “small” business’ who also think they are are not big enough for branding.

It’s all about managing that brand and the image people have of you. People are always going to think one way or another about you and/or your business and there’s nothing you can do about it except influence what they think.

Nicho

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An interesting topic to talk on! While branding and corporate identity aren’t my stronger points, I can definitely state from my freelance work that there really is a great divide between the mindsets of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) between a logo and the corporate branding/identity.

Since where I live (Hamilton, New Zealand) is economically driven for the most part by small businesses – not necessarily mum-and-pop types – with other events coming in to town to boost at times of the year (Hamilton 400 V8’s, rugby/cricket games/events), a larger chunk of my business comes from these smaller businesses, and very few of them fully grasp the importance of a strong branding element.

To most of them, the logo is their branding, but there are other aspects to said branding than the visual representation – social economics is another big part to the branding of a corporate or product identity. While I try my best to explain how important driving their brand is, most of them see it as too time-consuming, and an unnecessary exercise for their business.

Considering how the fruits of their labour would far outweigh the time taken to push their brand out (increased sales, more recommendations, etc.), it’s shocking yet intriguing on why small businesses have this mindset to steer clear of building their brand, yet medium to large enterprises understand the necessity behind this and will put in the money needed to build their brand. Admittedly, the costs are only an issue for some businesses.

I’m definitely interested in hearing what you manage to find from your research! It could prove to be an interesting learning experience.

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[...] I want to thank everyone who commented on last weeks post about Branding and Big Whigs. Nicho, Jason, and Jason Lerke all had really good input & perspective on the issue. I had [...]