What is a Brand?

A brand, founded upon core values, is the base of an organization. It is the framework of all marketing activities, employee and vendor interactions, and the very culture of the organization. It must be solid, truthful and the essence of “who” the organization is. All touch points, both internal and external, need to tie back to the core of the brand. The core of a brand defines the emotional and psychological relationship an organization has with its employees, vendors, and customers. A brand is the thoughts and feelings that one experiences when thinking of your company. Strong brands develop a deep connection and elicit thoughts, emotions, and even physiological responses through names, logos, colors, and taglines. The brand of the company can be expressed as the personality of the company. The business structure in the form of a person dictates how it will act, talk and communicate. This is especially important in the realm of social media marketing. Your brand is the complete experience your customers have when interacting with your business.

Do you know what your core values are?

The first and most important step in the core value discovery process is “The Guts Interview”. Through this 2-3 hour session, we will not only discover what values, concepts, and motivations truly drive your company, but the voice through which they will be communicated to each of your audiences. We will then perform an analysis of the interview and present back to you what we have determined to be your Core Values and Core Statements, along with justifications of each. In addition, we will provide both internal and external interpretations of each for use privately within your organization, as well as for public consumption.

Why the Guts Interview to Discover Core Values?

The Core Values of your company will drive literally everything you do. They are the vision, the unifying force, and the statements and ideas that every member of your organization from bottom to top can look to for guidance. This concept is not new. In fact, most of the companies that are habitually identified as the ones that “get it” (Apple, Nike, Walt Disney) have identified and use their core values to guide literally every aspect of their organizations. The results are obvious.

Brand Identity

From the core values, we will develop the brand identity. The brand identity encompasses the brand in a visual sense, including logo, color palette, typography, sales collateral, signage and advertising. All of these items will convey the same look and feel in order to ensure consistency. Achieving this will help your clients and potential clients better recognize your company amongst the crowd.

Are there disconnects from your brand?

Sometimes as organizations react and adapt to evolving business situations, management changes, and competition, they will begin to stray from the fundamentals and visions on which they were founded. Over time, the resulting inconsistencies between the vision for and the reality of the experience can lead to dissatisfied customers, unhappy and unmotivated employees, and less than helpful vendors. Through an in-person process, you will avoid the costly mistake of attracting new customers into an experience that isn’t grounded to the core vision at every turn. When we conduct this process, from the inside out, we will find any disconnects from your core values and recommend changes to get the brand back in line with the core values.