Brand Pitfalls to Avoid

Developing a strong brand can be a difficult process, and one easily met with failure if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are certain mistakes a lot of companies make in relation to their brand name, and my hopes here are to point out some of the more common ones so that more companies will avoid them.

First, don’t think that just because you’ve come up with a logo and brand name that people are going to immediately accept it as your brand. A lot of companies don’t promote their brand as much as they really need to because they think people are quicker to accept a brand than they often are.

Print color flyers or color posters with your brand name all over them. Send out as many brochures as you can dealing with the strengths of your company and all the things you can do for people. If you aren’t pushing your brand name than no one is going to know anything about it.

Next, don’t stretch your brand name too thin by trying to deal with too many different products or industries. Laura and Al Ries states in their book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand that, “When you put your brand name on everything, that name loses its power. Chevrolet used to be the best-selling automobile in America. No longer.” So why do companies do it? As they go on to state, “Why does Chevrolet market all those models? Because it wants to sell more cars. And in the short term, it does. But in the long term, it undermines its brand name in the mind of the consumer.” If you aren’t careful the same will happen with your brand name.

Next, you have to realize that your brand can’t please everyone. All of the popular brands have always targeted a specific market. The more people you’re hoping to appeal to the more you dilute your brand name and image.

Along the same lines, if you want your brand to be successful you need to know exactly what that brand is supposed to be and stand for. How can you design marketing material that promotes your core brand message if you aren’t positive about what that message is to begin with?

Even after a brand has been established there are still risks to be aware of. Failing to maintain a brand will quickly drive away all those people you spent so hard trying to get. The previous example of Chevrolet is a perfect fit, where by stretching their brand they lost a certain portion of their existing customers.

This also means you have to always have a solid marketing plan dealing with your brand to ensure you never lose sight of your brand name or who you’re trying to appeal to. Once a brand is established, every form of advertising has to have the question asked first: how will this affect our brand name?

Hopefully this information will help you to avoid some of these common mistakes that other companies fall into. A careful eye, and a dedication to your brand, will do wonders to ensure your brand name is long lasting.