Build Up Your Brand for Competitive Success: Business Wisdom From Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos and More

Companies want to produce a significant and robust brand for instant recognition within their marketplace. How does one effectively manage a brand?

Let’s start with the basics. 

Brand management begins by first analysing the market’s perspective of a brand and then on to planning how the brand should be perceived. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room.”

This newbie’s guide to branding lays down the fundamentals and specific components that would help you successfully brand your company. 

Keep in mind that branding explicitly defines your core values, not just help you make a great logo – by creating your image, establishing familiarity and recognition within the marketplace.

Some of the best business leaders know exactly how to create, define and grow their brand. 

Bea Perez might have said it the best — “A brand is a promise made. But a great brand is a promise kept.”

The tendency of not having a branding strategy is failing to have a clear understanding of your core values, purpose, mission, and vision – hence you and your team would be frustrated on how and why your roles even matter.

Here are five simple and effective steps and guidelines on how to put together and create a successful brand: 

1. Know Your Purpose - Be an advocate of your brand

A powerful and determined purpose always makes a successful brand. Start by asking yourself these “Whys”:

Why are you passionate about what you are doing? Why are you driven?Why did you opt to provide these specific products/services to your customers? Why is your brand better than others? Why do you think customers would choose your products/services over your competitors?

Having a clear understanding of how you stand out would contribute to knowing your purpose.

Simon Sinek, a motivational speaker and UK-born American author of Start with Why, said “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

Make sure that your brand has a clear message with why you do it in the first place. 

Believing in your brand is essential – it creates a positive energy that reflects through you, your employees and your consumers. 

2. Understand Your Target Audience/Market

When researching your target audience/market, be as specific as you can get. Narrow your focus down to specifics. Some sample criteria to know are age bracket, gender, location, current status, level of education and financial capabilities. By doing so, you could make more explicit messages and connect better with them. This approach will give you a competitive advantage.  

3. Create a Personalized Mission Statement for your Brand (brand logo & tagline)

Remember that your mission statement is about what your company is most passionate. To give you an idea, here are some sample mission statements and taglines from popular brands:

Starbucks : “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.”

Nike : “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

Amazon : “Earth’s biggest selection and being the Earth’s most customer-centric company.”

Apple : “Think Different. “

Think about the core values you would like your business to provide – a trusted brand for your target audience/market. Remember that your brand mission statement should be your answer whenever customer’s ask what your company does.

4. Be Unique

Your new brand should be unique in the eyes of your consumers. Remember that consumers tend to compare businesses with existing competition. Having a unique brand with unique values sets you apart from the crowd.

Think of how you can deliver your uniqueness to make an impact on your target audience/market. Dan Wieden, who coined the Nike tagline “Just Do It” said that “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.”

This approach of having a concise but unique tagline made a massive impact on their consumers. So focus on how your brand could create relations, how you could tell your own story, and create magic in your consumers' lives – in your unique way.

5. Consistency is the Key!

Consistency is always the key – even with your company brand.

Aside from the fact that your mission statement should be evident on all your company’s paraphernalia and every piece of content you make – you should be consistent in delivering what your brand promised. 

Now go back to the sample mission statements from popular brands earlier. When you hear their mission statements, or see their logos, the first thing that comes in mind is their product/services. 

This is because they’ve been consistent with how they deliver what they promise – which only shows how effective consistency is for a business brand.

Remember, your brand is your reputation and identity, whether it is a symbol, logo, or even a slogan. Make sure to create and build your brand in a way that would help you compete and succeed now – and race and thrive tomorrow.

Here are our five Best Branding Quotes to get you motivated and help you kick start with your branding strategy, hope it helps!

“Your personal brand is a promise to your clients… a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability”

“Your brand is a promise to your clients… a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.” — JASON HARTMAN, AUTHOR OF “BECOME THE BRAND OF CHOICE

“If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.” — ZIG ZIGLAR

“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” — JEFF BEZOS, FOUNDER OF AMAZON

“Brand is the sum total of how someone perceives a particular organisation. Branding is about shaping that perception.” — ASHLEY FRIEDLEIN

“Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.” — STEVE FORBES, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF FORBES MAGAZINE