Brand Building in 7 Easy Steps

Much has been written and said here on the Publicity For Good LinkedIn page about how to grow, manage, and even recover a brand when it’s already in the market, yet there is so much more that we could cover in regard to how you start your brand in the first place.

So, in order to help those who are just starting to get the brand for their business out of the ground, we compile the seven core steps that you should follow to launch it into the sphere of public discourse.

Start with Purpose

Why does your company exist? What problem are you solving? In what way is the world made a better place by what you and your employees and coworkers do? These are just a few of the questions that you have to ask yourself when defining the purpose of your brand, then you will have to outline the answer in a simple phrase:

For example, Nike’s purpose is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.”

Notice how they even play around with it by adding the asterisk, which states that “*If you have a body, you are an athlete”.

Research your competitors

A common law of philosophy states that If you had a good idea, there’s an overwhelming chance you were not the first one to have it. Therefore, you can expect at least a few other companies that are trying to provide the same thing you are, or at least something very close to it. You will need to know who they are, and most importantly, what you can offer customers that they can’t. What makes you different?

Determine your target audience

So, you know yourself, and you know the competition. It’s time to get to know the customers. And since you can’t interview each of?them individually, you’ll have to go for the common denominators like age, sex, profession, financial status, values, common experiences, etc.

Keep in mind, you can be broad about your target audience, especially if you’re offering something that everybody likes or needs, the caveat is that you can’t communicate to everyone at the same time and there’s a chance that by communicating with one audience, you may alienate another.

Once again, taking Nike as an example, their main target audience are athletes, but they also communicate with fashion enthusiasts, but if they steered too much into fashion, their sports crowd would lose interest and vice versa.

Write Your Story

Stories are a major part of brand building, they are the reasoning behind everything that your brand is and the main anchor that will make people want to get behind what you're doing, either as workers or customers.

TOMS Shoes, for example, started out when its founder Blake Mycoskie travelled to Argentina and saw children running barefoot in the street and decided he wanted to help, he then took inspiration from the traditional Argentinean espadrilles to start a for-profit business with a charitable mission.

When telling your story, go back to the questions of step one, and try to connect them with personal experiences. Your story will naturally follow.

Form a Unique Voice

Your story is one thing. How you tell it is another. You need to figure out what style of communication is going to be more effective when telling your story to your target audience. If they're younger and more informal, using slang might be a good idea, but if your target audience is entirely doctors, that might not be a good idea.

Your voice refers not only to what words you use, but also to the formats you choose to adopt. Most young people are not listening to their radio, as such, there might not be a point in trying to communicate with them through there.

Make a style guide

What is conceptual, must eventually become practical, and that normally passes through the step of writing everything down so that your content marketing team, publicist, or whoever needs it can quickly get information about the brand they are a part of.

This normally takes the shape of a style guide, which outlines the principles for all company communications, be it written, oral, visual or otherwise detailing language specificities, color pallets, values, and everything else a creative employee should know.

Put it to practice

What Good would all this work be if you didn’t do anything with the data? Now that you have your brand outlined, it’s time to communicate it to the world by taking the processes you have put in place and using them to establish your online presence, and pitch media outlets for a feature.

The best way to get around this is creating a content calendar with weekly quotas for content across two to three platforms of your choosing.

Do you need help with PR? Contact Publicity For Good or schedule a meeting here .

Check out our website and our blog to know more about us!

Publicity For Good: Transforming Purpose-Driven Brands

Publicity For Good (PFG) is the leading communications firm dedicated to amplifying the voices of purpose-driven brands. Our expertise encompasses media relations, influencer seeding, awards management, crisis management, social media management and thought leadership. We specialize in serving consumer brands in the food and beverage, beauty, health, and wellness sectors, as well as non-profits and influencers/ entrepreneurs creating compelling narratives that resonate with audiences and drive meaningful impact.

Our Story

Founded with a mission to combat the big, unethical, heartless industry, PFG was born from a desire to support brands that are making a difference. We understand the challenges of standing out in a competitive media landscape and the doubts and fears that come with it. Our entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to social good drive us to deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Growing Your Brand and Category

At PFG, our primary focus is on growing your brand's share of voice and expanding its category. We help our clients dominate their market space by increasing visibility, credibility, and consumer trust. Our strategic approach ensures that your brand not only stands out but also leads in its industry.