What exactly separates a business from a brand?
– Is it all about profits?
– Or the number of the stores?
– Or is it something you can count, like hashtags or social media posts?
If you google, according to Wikipedia, a brand is defined as “the name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s product distinct from those of other sellers.” So, what makes you say: “We’re not just a business. We are a brand.”
Yes, a business becomes a brand when you are different from everyone else in the marketplace.
– It is about your reputation.
– It is a business that consistently delivers a high-quality product. For example, we all know how Pepsi tastes; if it doesn’t taste the same one day, you probably would say the brand is damaged.
One Great Idea Can Change Your Business Into Brand
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” – John F. Kennedy.
Bizarre as it may sound, that is also the reality of the business. Anything that we are able to enjoy today, from travelling via aeroplane to talking on a video call, is an example of an idea. If there were no ideas, there would have been no growth in the world. All the beautiful things that the world can enjoy today are because of those few inventors or thinkers and entrepreneurs who decided to give life to their ideas. Otherwise, the world would have been a mundane place to live in.
A brand is an idea or a promise made to its customer. It has a unique identity and story that your customers will remember when they think about your company and product.
However, today’s business world is not just limited to invention or innovation. It is, in fact, a matter of sustainability now. Your creativity, willingness to embrace risk, and ability to spot opportunities where others can’t are some of those attributes that can help you sustain, survive, and find ways to succeed makes your business a brand.
Remember that your business is not a day adventure; it is a lifetime investment. Every business has the potential to be a brand, but not every business will realize its potential. The reason is simple: unfortunately, everyone wants too much and do too little to succeed.
Leo Burnett aptly quoted; “I have learned to respect ideas, wherever they come from. Often they come from clients. Account executives often have big creative ideas, regardless of what some writers think.”
Transforming a business into a brand is not easy; you have to earn the trust of your customers. It is your commitment that you are always ready to listen to your customers and promise to make meaningful changes in your products that result in increased benefits for your customers.
Your products and services should also be capable of speaking for themselves, and it happens when it is different from all its so-called competitors, and it is high quality.