What makes a brand a brand?

I want to start by exploring the core of a brand's identity. We know that a brand is a cue to trigger a person's perception, and branding shapes all of these perceptions. But these perceptions, essentially the messaging of what makes the brand different and valuable, come courtesy of the business itself. Let's go through the core components of what makes a brand a brand.

These are the building blocks of a good brand. First, we have your history. This is your origin story. How did you get here and why? Who makes up the company and what makes them special? Some companies refer to this as their corporate DNA.

Second is your competency. What is your core strength? This would be the top item from the strength section of your SWAT analysis. Third, we have your mission. Why does your company exist? Where are you headed? What are your goals and what are you contributing? Fourth on the list is market orientation. What are the stated wants and needs of your customers? What are the hidden wants and needs of your customers? And how does your business serve those? Moving along, the fifth component is scale.

What is the size of your company? Are you a leader, challenger, or follower? Are you local, nationwide, or global? Where is your growth taking you? Sixth is organization. Who's in charge of the brand? Who is in charge of the marketing? For larger organizations this is about mapping out decision-makers who have the biggest direct or even indirect impact on the brand. Seventh is reputation. What is the current image of the company amongst existing or former customers? This is a great place to outline your net promoter score if you have that established.

What is your reputation and what reputation do you really hope to have? And finally we have stability. What is your financial performance? What are your financial goals? Is this information public or private? And how does your company demonstrate growth or a lasting commitment to its market? As you can see, eight simple components contribute to a tremendous amount of questions but all of these answers to these question are what make a brand and influence how you steer your branding.

Once you've finished defining your brand, highlight the areas that contribute the most to the wants and needs of your customers. For example, a startup with zero reputation, no financial stability, and a tiny team is going to have to push heavily into their vision, competencies, and origin story. Unless, of course, being small with zero experience is beneficial to the wants and needs of their market. You have to come face-to-face with all of this information because whether you like it or not, it's what makes your brand yours.