Consumer awareness—how a brand is perceived within its marketplace—is crucial to branding strategy. Building consumer awareness helps the brand be more valuable to its audience, which in turn, can help the brand dominate its marketplace.

Effective branding strategy is the foundation for increased consumer awareness. Branding strategy begins with articulating the unique selling proposition (USP). A unique selling proposition sets an organization apart from all the others in its marketplace. A USP can feature a product, service, business model, or business style.

Once the USP has been developed it needs to be supported. Reinforce the USP with relevant messaging, data, and testimonials. The more focused information presented to the audience, the better. Perform market research, interview current clients, articulate a positioning statement, and collect testimonials.

Spread the word. Institute a sales and marketing plan around the USP. Develop printed and online marketing material that will help the sales force, customer service representatives, and other employees consistently deliver the message of the brand.

Building consumer awareness is important to the success of every business. Properly communicating the promise of the brand will aid in raising brand awareness. Rise above the competition and dominate the marketplace by refining the brand and consistently communicating the USP to current and potential clients.

Articulating the message
A brand’s unique selling proposition is what makes it rise above it’s competition. It should be superlative, memorable, tangible, important, and timeless. A unique selling proposition is constructed to stand the test of time. Unless the organization’s core offering changes, the unique selling proposition stays the same and should be consistently conveyed across all communication.

Crafting an effective delivery
The delivery is where, when, why and to whom the brand puts its stake in the ground. Delivery depends on;

• Medium—Print, web, radio, and word of mouth are all mediums through which a message can be delivered. Communications written for the Web are very different from communications written for a radio spot, which are both very different from a formal business letter.
• Timing—Some communications are planned, others are spontaneous. Some are proactive while others are reactive, but whatever the circumstance—message must align with the brand.
• Reason—Reason for communication can be positive, negative, or neutral, but whether communicating to avert or alleviate a crisis, announce an increase in earnings, or inform about a new product, the message must reinforce the unique selling proposition.
• Audience—Audiences can include customers, potential customers, vendors, investors, and employees. The brand reaches out to each of these audiences for different reasons and through different mediums but each audience member must receive a consistent message.

A brand’s delivery will vary but the it must always effectively communicate the unique selling proposition. If the message changes with the delivery method, it will be diluted, the audience will be confused, and the brand will suffer.

To own a concept is to be the brand that comes to mind when you think of a product, service, or idea. Think:
Soft drink—Coca Cola
Job finding—Monster.com
Reliability—Toyota

These “concept” brands do not compete. They are not followers. Their unique selling proposition is so strong that they set the terms the competition must achieve. Being the first, the only, or the best—no other brand comes close to the hold they have on their respective marketplaces. They are innovative, unique, and desirable—model brands that others aspire to become.

These brands’ success is a result of their ability to develop unique selling propositions by identifying unfulfilled, but desired gaps within their marketplace and meeting those needs.

A great example of a unique selling proposition that filled a huge gap in the marketplace was Monster.com—one of the first Internet job seeking services. Monster was able to bring the convenience of the Internet and email to a market that was traditionally based in print—clumsy newspapers, fancy resume paper, and snail mail. Monster also broke geographical barriers—allowing job seekers to search jobs within 10 miles of their house or across the country and made the possibility of finding a job in another city much simpler than it had been in the past.

Monster addressed the needs of both the job seekers and the employers so successfully, there no longer seemed to be any other logical way of doing things.

If having a strong unique selling proposition is so easy, why hasn’t everyone done it? The answer is because its not easy. First you need to identify what that gap is and exploit it with a single minded focus. Not easy for a firm rooted in a set way of doing business. We often refer to it as the Tarzan principal, afraid to completely let go of one vine before you’re sure the next vine will work. Second, few enterprises have the fortitude to stick with an immutable unique selling proposition.

In our current economic environment, it may be a great opportunity to explore developing a concept brand. Business is off and your competitors are spending more time staying afloat than finding the strategy to make them stronger. At the same time, your audience may be ready to hear a new message as their needs evolve.

Recessions bring opportunities. Uncover and market your unique selling proposition to emerge ahead of your competition.

Your USP defines your competitive advantage. It is the one thing that makes your product or service different than any other. It’s the one reason consumers will buy your product even though it may seem no different from many others just like it.

Does your company have a unique selling proposition? It’s frequently the defining trait between very successful enterprises and the others. Most firms fail to establish a USP or inadequately define it, negating its effectiveness. It is always wiser to be a specific specialist than a master of nothing.

Think of your USP as the cornerstone of your brand. Your brand is all about expectations. More than just a logo, it is an identifiable entity of concrete and abstract experiences delivered consistently over time. In other words, your brand embodies your USP—encompassing the look and tone of your product or service and supporting materials, your messages, your communications strategy, and your demeanor. It is your promise.

Step back and think about your unique selling proposition. It’s what your firm does—your promise to your customers, market, suppliers, and employees.

Consider the strongest and most admired brands in your world. A few identifying characteristics that distinguish them from their competitors include:

• Their USP stands the test of time. Successful firms drive a metaphorical stake into the ground—their unique selling proposition doesn’t change. Products and services may evolve, but the promise remains. It reflects the identity of the firm, keeping employees focused and constituents engaged.
• Their USP is superlative, important, and believable. You must stand out from the crowd. Whatever differentiates you must be important to your customer. You may be the hardest working widget maker, but your client will not appreciate your hard work if it doesn’t meet their objectives. And finally, don’t say it if no one will believe it.
• The USP is attached to their name. The two must be synonymous. Your audience needs to think of your promise when they see or hear your name. If the two are incompatible, it may be time to change your name.

All this may seem simple, but do your employees, suppliers, and management team know the promise? If they don’t, then your clients surely won’t. Has your USP changed in the last year? In the last five years?

Ask around, you may be surprised at what you find. There may be some gaps between your actual USP and your perceived one; you may not have a USP at all.  The way to arrive at an effective USP is to call on outside opinions—talk to employees, constituents, and a branding professional. Consulting with several groups of people will give you unbiased information necessary in developing your USP.

So, before you go too far with your visual look and feel, establish your USP, build consensus, and guard it as the firm’s most valuable asset. Then you can confidently build your brand!

© 2007 ADAMS

A mission statement outlines what your organization hopes to achieve and how you hope to achieve it. It is future-oriented, imaginative, and idealistic. Most mission statements are created to target employees, stakeholders, and management—stating who you are and why you are here.

A positioning statement, by contrast, is all about where your business fits within its markets. The intention of positioning strategy is to state what you do or deliver and how you differ from your competitors. It verbally expresses your brand in one or two sentences.

An important element of brand identity work is creating our client’s positioning strategy. Initially, we often find our discussions focusing on the attributes of a mission statement versus a positioning statement. Although it is important to establish who you are, why you are here, and where you are going, these are not necessarily the elements of successful positioning strategy.

The positioning strategy should define your brand. Your positioning statement is how your defined market, stakeholders, and employees distinguish you from your competitors. It must be deliverable, credible, distinctive, inspirational and immutable. It should speak to the promise of your brand, rather than product(s) or services you offer.

Have you experienced a similar situation?

Joe is attending a conference and most of the day he has been looking for a specific prospect he’s never been able to meet. When he sees her approaching his booth, Joe stride’s ahead to introduce himself and share his belief that his firm can help her firm. She responds, “Tell me, what does your firm do?” Joe knows he has 30 seconds before he loses her attention to describe what will clearly take 30 minutes to adequately explain. Always a good salesman, Joe responds, “At ABC software, we’ve developed the fastest tracking software of HR records on the streets. We’re 2010 compliant and operate on a UNIX… She abruptly replies, “Joe, it was nice to meet you and it sounds like an exciting product, but we’re set for now” as the polite prospect moves away.

What just happened? Joe knows her company is looking for software like his. However, he failed to communicate his positioning strategy, he focused on features, and he failed to communicate the promise of his brand.

Joe’s prospect isn’t interested in the latest and greatest. It’s common knowledge that today’s software will be eclipsed by tomorrow’s. Perhaps she’s looking for a firm with which to partner, to find solutions to her HR systems issues, employ best practices, and maintain legally compliant records. And that is exactly what Joe’s firm does…

A more effective response may have been to use the company’s positioning statement, found on the first page of the capability brochure or on their Web site’s home page; “As a leading provider of Human Resource transaction recordkeeping systems, ABC Software partners with clients to maintain legally compliant records and employ best practices.” While not speaking to the speed, platforms, or ease of use of the software, the positioning strategy does meet the five metrics of a strong brand: deliverable, credible, distinctive, inspiring and immutable.

Developing proper positioning strategy is one of the cornerstones of a strong brand. Communicating it from the top down to your constituents until it is ubiquitous within your organization will lead to realizing the benefits of a strong brand— shortened sales cycles, improved profitability, and increased enterprise value.

© 2007 ADAMS