2 Strengths of Brands

What makes your brand tick? Sometimes that can seem really obtuse. People that are in the space of brand design can use some big words or some abstract terms, and I wanna boil it down for you to what I see as the two components that make brands work. And it’s pretty simple when you really think about it, a brand by the way, you know, my definition of that is, that’s what people say about you when you’re not around. It’s what people expect when they see your brand. It’s reputation really for who you are. And it’s critical for B2B businesses to be known as the value that they provide because if they’re not, they will be ignored or dismissed. So let’s get to it. The two things are really, two ends of an important dichotomy or space for companies in their industry.

On the one end is their customer, and on the other end is their business. Them. The magic that you do is connecting what the customer needs with what you provide, right?

Energy
So the first part of a brand is the energy of it. And from a branding perspective, you know, that’s that. When you hear or you see the message of a brand, you get excited, you see it, you understand it. There’s you know, power in that, that power comes from your story representing the value. What that promise, that that potential value that you are going to provide, that you can provide and hopefully that you are almost guaranteed to provide as you grow your brand to that client. And the more specific that is to your specific target audience, the more energy it includes.

Honesty
The second piece of a brand, the other end is honesty. It’s the authenticity of your brand that’s you are representing exactly who you are, what your business is, why it was created, what value it delivers, and what you strive for. All those things. Authenticity is another piece of this transparency. They can see you, they can see the you, the company that is able to provide that, that promise, that value. And it’s believable because you show up as who you really are. You don’t look fake, you don’t look made up, and you don’t look boring either. Because the truth is, if you really tap into that truth about who you are and why you did this, it’s a great story. It always is. You just need to find a way to tell that story. And just the functional things like color palettes and consistency in different presentations of the brand, all of that is part of you telling these stories consistently over and over and over and over again. It’s that reinforcement of a brand that makes you able to deliver the energy and the honesty so they actually can hear it.

B2B Clarity
So don’t let brands, uh, seem confusing ’cause they’re not. The simpler they are, the more powerful they are for you. So look for a way to very succinctly explain your value and its energy and who you are delivering it fully, honestly. And you will have a breakout brand.