Hi,

Yesterday we sent a newsletter out about how you can make your brand work for you, getting it in front of the right people and the best way to get started…

Your brand is such a potent force to help build your business. 

It helps you get in the door and then stay in the room.
It is what people think of you when you’re not in the room,

But how do you make your brand work for you?
How do you make it serve your interests and objectives?
Where do you start?

This was our 7-step guide will help you make the most out of your brand/marketing resources.

Even with limited resources. This quick guide will help you cut to the chase, put your best foot forward and get started.

and we have added a fantastic secret at the end to really help you on your way…

1. DEFINE YOUR COMMERCIAL OBJECTIVES

This is so important. Write down all the different things you want to achieve. It may include…

– Double Turnover with existing products and markets.
– Increase company profitability by 15%.
– Build greater loyalty with your supply chain.
– Improve staff relations.
– Enter a new market.

It could be absolutely any of these things, it could be all of these things. Write them all down.

2. PEOPLE & RELATIONSHIPS

Every single objective will have a human element in it. You must attract more people towards your brand or strengthen existing relationships.

Write down which people you need to attract or get closer too?

3. BIG IDEA

A brand is just an idea that people have in their mind.

Every brand will mean different things to different people. We all have a range of things that we are known for or where others think we are just that little bit special. Your brand probably means a lot of different things to different people.

Think about what they are and list them.

4. CHANNELS

We know what we want to achieve, we know who we want to attract or get closer too, we know what is special about our company to those people – now we must begin to join the dots. How can we best reach those different people? What are the best channels of communication?

they may include…
• E-Newsletters
• Website
• Print Ads in Journals
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc…
• Trade-shows
• Direct Mail
• Pick-up-the-phone

5. LITTLE IDEAS

The first 5 parts of this exercise are strategic and help provide clarity and order in your thinking.

This stage is where you let your imagination run wild…

You know what you want to achieve.
Who you need to attract or get closer too. 
What is special about your company to those people and how best to reach them.

Now you need to think of ideas that can help you engage?

What can you give to energise those relationships, it doesn’t matter how big or small. This is your chance to surprise and delight.

What can you do that is surprising and delightful?

–    Give some specific information that is of real value to certain people.
–    Share some wonderful stories
–    Make people laugh.
–    Offer a deal.
–    Share some helpful advice.
–    Make people aware of an event.

The better you understand the people you are looking to energise your relationship with, the more specific you can be with what you give.

6. MEASURE

Measure every activity to the best of your abilities. All digital channels now come with an avalanche of tools that help you measure the success of anything you do…

before we get to no.7

There is nothing more dangerous than having just one idea.

Write them ALL down. Every objective, every type of person you wish to attract, a proper download.

By doing this, it will allow you to think more freely and see the bigger picture. (We have help sheets below.)

Now that you have several plans – start picking the ones of greatest importance.

When you know your most important commercial objective, you know the people that you are looking to attract or get closer too, you can better define which bits of your brand is special to them, which channels to focus on and which ideas are most appropriate to build those relationships.

Create several quick plans and then compare them – your actual plan should begin to formulate naturally, and then you have step 7…

7. ACTION

At the loft, we do not believe in long strategic exercises which go on forever and are impossible to implement. We believe in short, sharp movements that take companies to the next step of their journeys immediately.

So look at your plan or plans, write down the first 5-10 actions and get going….

IN CONCLUSION

This exercise should take no more than a couple of hours. There are links to the help-sheets below, there is a link to download the e-book ‘Your Brand Squared.’ if you get stuck – give us a call and we’ll help you out.

And needless to say, if we can help you out with any design tasks, let us know. We sincerely hope that we have been of help to you…

Thanks and best wishes,

Benedetto and the loft team

download the help-sheets>>>

Check out ‘Your Brand ²‘ e-book>>>

Benedetto is a designer and founder of the loft – a specialist design studio based in Glasgow.

The loft takes the true essence of what organisations do and with his team brings those stories to life with a coherence, simplicity and delightfulness that helps companies to create outstanding brand communications.

‘Design with Soul’ is more than a company tag-line to Benedetto, it is a way of life.

His journey has taken him from a career in car design through to his current role. He is honoured to manage a great team, work with great clients and have a lot of fun mixing with so many great people in business.