A brand identity is the centering idea of an organization. It captures that which you’d like to become, giving the organization something to aspire to. A common pitfall for many companies is not taking the time to think about whom they are or what kinds of companies they want to become. While it may be easy to articulate revenue goals, developing a brand identity requires a different thinking process.
A brand identity should be focused on customer benefits, differentiated from competitors, and of course, given the organization’s capabilities, possible. Once defined, the brand identity becomes the organization’s centering set of associations that it continually strives to create or maintain.
Customer Value Proposition-the Marching Orders
A successful customer value proposition clearly communicates the brand’s functional, emotional, and self-expressive benefits. It is delivered in a way that is superior or unique when compared to competitors. While a brand identity is a big-picture vision, the value proposition provides the strategy for reaching that vision, linking the brand to the customer experience.
Here is another place where companies go astray. Organizational structures often prevent creation of a relevant, holistic customer experience. For example, departmental goals can too often take precedence and end up disconnected from the brand. A value proposition must be integrated across the organization so that every functional area contributes to the overall customer experience.
Customer Perspective-the Continuous Thread
Customer experience is shaped by a series of interactions with an organization. What products or services are offered? Does the package arrive on time? Does the help desk answer the phone promptly? If you don’t take a customer perspective when creating the customer experience, you’ll make it much easier for a competitor to copy your product or service and steal market share. You should always base the brand-customer relationship on an outside-in perspective, creating a customer- centric experience.
Listen, Understand, Respond-the Way to Grow
The final ingredient that binds a customer to your brand in a lasting relationship is dialogue. Your company’s brand isn’t a monolithic, hermetic face that the organization presents to the world. Rather, it’s an ongoing exchange where you listen carefully to your customers, understand what they say, and respond by modifying your value proposition and extending your businesses appropriately to fulfill customers’ desires.