How Branding Increases Business Value

Today, I am pleased to introduce guest blogger, Alan Herman, the CEO of Alan Herman & Associates, an aadvertising and marketing communications firm with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

 

Why branding is important for your business

 

Last week, a client asked me a great question: "Alan, what should I be doing for my business today that will prepare me to take advantage of the eventual economic recovery?" It's a great question and one that, as the owner of a marketing communications firm for more than 40 years, I've heard asked a lot.

 

My answer to him, as it's always been, was: invest in your branding. So what is branding? In the old days, the term literally referred to the branding of cattle, but the idea was the same. Branding is about creating a "mark" or a distinctive identity that separates your cattle from the rest of the herd. And that's also what your goal should be in business.  Good branding allows you to increase your prospects, retain your current clients and maintain your pricing or fees.

 

Branding also will allow you to maximize the value of your company in the event of a sale. Rather than spending money on search engine optimization or hiring a new salesperson, building in your brand is like investing in an asset. In fact, brands are assets. Elements of your brand such as a memorable logo, a recognizable tagline or company trademark are listed on a company's balance sheet and can add up to some serious dough. Just take the example of the Pillsbury Doughboy. When General Mills purchased Pillsbury from Diageo in 2003, value of the Doughboy in the form of goodwill exceeded $1 billion dollars!

 

A couple other things to think about when it comes to branding:

 

1) The more consistent and often you use your branding in the public arena the better–marketing has both long-term and short-term effects.

 

2) You only get one chance to make a first impression with a customer or potential client–like it or not, they'll judge your company and products based on how professional your branding looks.

 

3) Bring in a professional. As much as you'd like to believe that saving a couple bucks by using your friend from high school to create your brand identity is a good move, it's probably not.

Comments

[roulette online]

Without well known and recognizable brand a company won't be able to raise its profit. I guess it's pretty clear

[JamesDX]

Maybe this is me talking nonsense, but it seems like Google isn't a company run strictly by the top and they seem to be doing quite well.

[James]

This is a great post entry. Social Media really played a great role in increasing your identity over the web.