What is a brand?

A brand is the experience that your company promises to your customers and this experience has to be differentiated in a positive and meaningful way. It is not just about being different — it is being different in a way that matters to your customers. It really is about who you are and what you promise to bring to the table for your customers.

 

Brand it. Holistically.

You should always start from understanding who you are by asking yourself questions such as:

“Why do you choose to do what you do?”,

“What are your aspirations for your company?”,

“What do you think you are better at as compared to your competitors?”,

“Who are your customers and what do you understand about them?”, and

“How do you want your customers to feel about your brand?”

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All these understandings will enable you to formulate strategies that will reflect your brand’s beliefs, values and what it stands for, setting your brand apart from the rest.

 

Many of these beliefs and values are in turn a reflection of what the leader of the company stands for. The thing is, I’ve been asked many times about my opinion on whether the brand and the leader of the company should be viewed as separate entities. My take on SMEs and start-ups is that it is inevitable that the brand will be inextricably linked to the leader. The reason is that very often, the leader makes key decisions that can affect the interactions a customer experiences with the company, and each decision can make or break the overall customer experience, which is the pulse of the business.

 

Bring it all together

In summary, your brand should not be an abstract idea or concept that you need to explain to your customers - it should simply be about who you are and what value your company can bring to your customers.

 

So, what is your brand about?

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Jerome Lau,
Managing Director

Splash Productions Pte Ltd