The art of branding – defining a company’s personality through its identity, values and point of difference – has long been studied in the business world. As companies strive to perfect their brand and how it is perceived by others, they also seek to build a personal connection with customers that fosters brand trust and loyalty.
As your promotional products distributor of choice, Branded Products® is proud to offer you an experienced team of Branding Advisors, each with an average of 26 years of industry experience and field knowledge. Our Branding Advisors understand the importance of brand alignment and other strategies that can influence a company’s growth potential and the effectiveness of a marketing campaign.
In this article we will examine the meaning and importance of brand alignment, and provide you with some expert advice on how to successfully implement this for your business.
What is brand alignment?
Put simply, brand alignment is the process of ensuring that all of your public-facing touchpoints (including visual attributes, marketing communications and customer interactions) are consistent with your brand’s identity, values and ethos.
Why is brand alignment important for your business?
A measure of how well your company fulfills its brand promise, the strength and consistency of your brand alignment will have a direct impact on building consumer trust and confidence in a competitive marketplace. Now more than ever, audiences have shorter attention spans, greater access to information and seemingly endless product options – which is why it’s so important to give customers a reason to choose your brand and business over your competitors.
Successful brand alignment is an essential part of reinforcing your business’ reputation and ensuring that your brand message is communicated across the board with authenticity and impact.
How to successfully achieve brand alignment
At the core of brand alignment is a strong brand identity that reflects consistency between your company’s messaging and its actions, both internally and externally.
When your brand is successfully aligned, everyone within the company should have a clear understanding of your business’ values, objectives and mission statement – including an awareness of the promises you make to your customers and how you follow through on these.
Similarly, external stakeholders should be able to understand exactly what your business offers, and act with confidence that the promises you make to them will be fulfilled.
Before we take a look at some of the principles that can help you to build and uphold successful brand alignment, there are a couple of easy ways that you can gauge the strength of your brand identity as it currently stands:
· Listen to your customers:
When was the last time you surveyed your customers or asked for their feedback about your business? If any of your customers have expressed that they are confused or frustrated by the service you provide, this may be an indication of underlying problems associated with your brand alignment. When there is a disconnect between what your business says it will do and what it actually does, this can lead to unclear messaging and ultimately confusion for your customers. Taking the time to listen to your customers and understand their source of confusion or frustration will help you to identify any issues with your brand alignment, and provide you with an opportunity to resolve the customer’s experience rather than losing them to a competitor.
· Ask your team for feedback:
Have you ever checked in with your team members and asked for their honest feedback on your company’s purpose, values and objectives? Are you giving your team the tools and resources to support their understanding of the business, and do they speak about the brand with a single, unified voice? Regardless of their role or department, if your employees’ answers are wide-ranging and inconsistent, this could be a strong indication that your brand is not successfully aligned.
Once you have received feedback from your internal and external stakeholders, you can review this information to identify any gaps or inconsistencies in your brand identity. A strategy can then be developed to help you build or improve on the fundamentals of your business’ brand alignment, which should include the following at a minimum:
· Company mission statement
· Brand story
· Brand verbiage and tone of voice
· Brand logo, typography and imagery
Having a comprehensive set of brand guidelines that covers the above touchpoints can help to lay the foundation for internal and external communication of your brand alignment, and these guidelines should be made accessible to everyone in your organisation along with any business partners that you choose to co-brand with.
How promotional products can enhance your brand alignment
Did you know that branded promotional products can provide your business with a tangible and often interactive way to connect with your demographic? Beyond brand visibility, a thoughtfully chosen promotional product (or range of products) that aligns with your brand identity and values will help to leave a lasting impact on your audience.
Other ways that promotional products can assist with your brand alignment include:
· Extended brand exposure:
Unlike traditional advertising channels such as billboards and television ads which typically have a short lifespan, promotional products can provide your business with the opportunity to generate brand recognition and recall over the long term. Practical and functional items such as corporate apparel, tech gadgets and stationery lend themselves to daily use, which in turn exposes your brand to a wider audience over an extended period of time.
· Brand consistency:
Consistency, familiarity and reliability are some of the main foundations for building trust and credibility with your audience. Give your customers another reason to choose your business over the competition with some carefully selected promotional products that reflect your brand identity and values.
· Point of difference:
Promotional products also provide your business with an opportunity to stand out from the crowd by showcasing what sets you apart from your competition. Whether it’s eco-friendly products that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability or innovative products that embrace the philosophy of continuous improvement, choosing the right promotional products for your business can be a subtle yet powerful reminder of what your brand stands for.
Have you considered co-branding?
Whilst we’re discussing the role of promotional products in helping to achieve brand alignment for your business, it is worth noting that co-branding is a powerful way of strengthening and enhancing your own brand identity.
Co-branding with an iconic label renowned for their craftsmanship, quality and innovative design can have a positive impact on your brand message whilst providing your clients, prospects and new hires with an enticing corporate gift that they’ll love to wear or use.
From NIKE® to Under Armour® and Moleskine® to Pierre Cardin®, you can elevate your branding with a bespoke gift from our carefully selected range of well-known brand names, all of which are fully customisable with your business logo.
Contact us
To find out more about promotional products and how they can help your business to successfully achieve brand alignment, reach out to our Branding Advisors today. With decades of collective industry experience, we will work closely with you to find the best promotional products and decoration techniques to help bring your brand identity to life.
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