Customer Perception or Company Reality
The Customer’s Perception Isn’t Necessarily the Same as Reality.
How many competitors, either direct or indirect, does your business have? Whatever that number is, that’s how many choices your prospects have, and how many businesses they have to sift through to try to make a buying decision. And that’s assuming they actually want to buy what you’re selling in the first place!
This situation is called the Confidence Gap.
The Confidence Gap represents the consumer’s inability to distinguish whether any of the products or any of the services are any better than, any different from or any worse than, any of the others.
Let me repeat that.
The Confidence Gap represents the consumer’s inability to identify whether one product or service is any better/worse or different than any others.
And guess what? You’re heaped into the middle of that pack of indistinguishable competitors!
let's go on a quick Bootstrap branding journey:
1. Brand Discovery: Who are we and what do we stand for?
Why did we start this business in the first place? What is it that our customers get from us that they can’t get from anyone else? What are some of the things they enjoy about doing business with us? Where do our passion and professionalism converge?
Typical deliverables: a “brand essence” document then folto formally capture such elements as target markets and respective value propositions; an official company description; any phrases that convey your brand promise in a few memorable words; also, visual “raw material” (napkin sketches and whiteboard brainstorms) as a starting point for development of graphic elements of the brand identity.
Reality check: Are we just blowing smoke here or does the brand vision we’ve come up with also hold meaning for line employees, customers, prospects, partners and competitors? In particular, do customers agree with our assessment of the unique value we provide to them? Are we stepping on any other brand toes? Do we have a truly distinctive and memorable brand concept here? Run the brand essence past a few insightful members of your “kitchen cabinet” to help ensure quality.
2. Brand Expression: What’s the look and feel we want to convey?
To distill the “look” of your brand (its visual identity) you probably have to open up the checkbook and work with qualified creative professionals in corporate image/graphic design. To save time and money, pull together visual samples from competitors and any other companies whose branding you like or admire. Having some parameters in mind is preferable to starting with a blank piece of paper—and much more cost-effective.
Typical deliverables: trademark search/filing (if needed); a company logo, official tag line and business identity system; a firm sense of company reputation; any indicated revisions for strengthening the brand concept.
Reality check: Do we have a truly distinctive and memorable brand concept here? Does it convey our company’s personality? Are we stepping on any other brand toes? Again, feedback from few insightful members of your “kitchen cabinet” or an informal focus group can help. Use caution, however, in managing the size of the approval loop.
3. Brand Execution: How do we get our brand image off the drawing board?
You’ve got the look, but the “feel” is something you and your organization must create on your own. It’s the total experience of your company: the way the phone is answered, how products or services are delivered, your quality/service philosophies, your approach to the sales process, the style of communication, the value placed on people. All these “expressions of your brand” are extension of the work you do in steps 1 and 2, and they are just as vital, if not more so, than your brand’s graphic packaging. Also important is ensuring “brand discipline” for advertising, marketing, Web site and other media/channels.
Output from this step: brand elements extended consistently to signage, Web site, print collateral, trade show display, product packaging, etc.; detailed plans for communicating the brand to employees, customers and other stakeholders.
Conclusion: to change the way people think about your company, first change the way your company thinks about itself.
How many competitors, either direct or indirect, does your business have? Whatever that number is, that’s how many choices your prospects have, and how many businesses they have to sift through to try to make a buying decision. And that’s assuming they actually want to buy what you’re selling in the first place!
This situation is called the Confidence Gap.
The Confidence Gap represents the consumer’s inability to distinguish whether any of the products or any of the services are any better than, any different from or any worse than, any of the others.
Let me repeat that.
The Confidence Gap represents the consumer’s inability to identify whether one product or service is any better/worse or different than any others.
And guess what? You’re heaped into the middle of that pack of indistinguishable competitors!
let's go on a quick Bootstrap branding journey:
1. Brand Discovery: Who are we and what do we stand for?
Why did we start this business in the first place? What is it that our customers get from us that they can’t get from anyone else? What are some of the things they enjoy about doing business with us? Where do our passion and professionalism converge?
Typical deliverables: a “brand essence” document then folto formally capture such elements as target markets and respective value propositions; an official company description; any phrases that convey your brand promise in a few memorable words; also, visual “raw material” (napkin sketches and whiteboard brainstorms) as a starting point for development of graphic elements of the brand identity.
Reality check: Are we just blowing smoke here or does the brand vision we’ve come up with also hold meaning for line employees, customers, prospects, partners and competitors? In particular, do customers agree with our assessment of the unique value we provide to them? Are we stepping on any other brand toes? Do we have a truly distinctive and memorable brand concept here? Run the brand essence past a few insightful members of your “kitchen cabinet” to help ensure quality.
2. Brand Expression: What’s the look and feel we want to convey?
To distill the “look” of your brand (its visual identity) you probably have to open up the checkbook and work with qualified creative professionals in corporate image/graphic design. To save time and money, pull together visual samples from competitors and any other companies whose branding you like or admire. Having some parameters in mind is preferable to starting with a blank piece of paper—and much more cost-effective.
Typical deliverables: trademark search/filing (if needed); a company logo, official tag line and business identity system; a firm sense of company reputation; any indicated revisions for strengthening the brand concept.
Reality check: Do we have a truly distinctive and memorable brand concept here? Does it convey our company’s personality? Are we stepping on any other brand toes? Again, feedback from few insightful members of your “kitchen cabinet” or an informal focus group can help. Use caution, however, in managing the size of the approval loop.
3. Brand Execution: How do we get our brand image off the drawing board?
You’ve got the look, but the “feel” is something you and your organization must create on your own. It’s the total experience of your company: the way the phone is answered, how products or services are delivered, your quality/service philosophies, your approach to the sales process, the style of communication, the value placed on people. All these “expressions of your brand” are extension of the work you do in steps 1 and 2, and they are just as vital, if not more so, than your brand’s graphic packaging. Also important is ensuring “brand discipline” for advertising, marketing, Web site and other media/channels.
Output from this step: brand elements extended consistently to signage, Web site, print collateral, trade show display, product packaging, etc.; detailed plans for communicating the brand to employees, customers and other stakeholders.
Conclusion: to change the way people think about your company, first change the way your company thinks about itself.
posted by Nick Field at 2/01/2005 05:10:00 PM
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