BRANDING A SMALL BUSINESS

Suzanne Marks, Pasadena Advertising’s comely CEO, just gave a seminar on "Branding" to the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.  The audience members, by and large, were small business owners. They were concerned that since the big stores spend so much money on branding, they had better learn about it too.  However, branding and positioning efforts (for those who like semantic hair splitting) are usually reserved for large, impersonal corporations.  Branding is what gives the company a face: a personal connection that clients and customers can hold onto.

The business owners’ concern is understandable, as John Costello of Procter & Gamble fame once famously explained, “A brand image signifies a relationship with the customer.  It is the company’s most valuable asset.  It’s also the main differentiator, the best defense against price competition and the key to customer loyalty.  Competitors can copy your features and benefits, but they can’t steal your image.”

That said, giving a face to a small business is infinitely easier than creating a “face” for a corporation, because the business is, well, small enough to have a face built in, usually the owner's face.  The salespeople's faces.  And, the personal relationship is, more often than not, is actually personal – directly between people.  So branding techniques are ... well, simpler.  Take a shower.  Dress for work. Open your shop for business. Smile and make your customers happy.  Annnnnnnnnnd: Congratulations.  Your branding is done.

Okay, not quite. You also have to know who your prospective customers are. You have to design your store (and your signage) to appeal to them, and they have to see your appeal from across the street.

You have to pick a location where your customers would likely be and would like to be. You have to make your shop their home.  That’s all a part of your brand.  And you have to give your current customers the best product or service possible to build up the most powerful, long lasting brand advertising possible – Word of Mouth.

Then there’s that other advertising – the kind outside your store.  That's something you need to think about.  You have to be consistent and reinforce the image of your store, yourself and thereby your "brand" in everything you do. However, with the advent of social marketing, your advertising just got a whole lot cheaper.  With a web page, email, Twitter, Facebook and a blog, you can give directions, post hours, gain fans, thank old customers, entice new customers, post online coupons, showcase new products and services and reinforce your brand. And update it whenever you want.

All in all, a pretty hard working advertising medium that's worth all the work you put into it.