Brand Guidelines for Technology Companies
At the annual Association of National Advertisers conference this year, Bruce Claflin, President and COO of 3Com said:
"Previously we developed products and assumed they'd create a brand. Now we're designing a brand and developing products to fit it. If they don't fit, we don't proceed, no matter how exciting the technology is."
Brand is what your company stands for. It's how people feel when they hear your company name. A brand is a promise made and fulfilled every day at every point of contact from packaging to phone messages to advertising. It's emotional rather than rational and it's powerful. Properly used, it's one of a company's most valuable assets. There are many statistics and studies on the bottom line value a strong brand adds to a company.
Branding Isn't
- A logo or a tagline or an ad
- Just a marketing function.
Branding Is
- The total experience the company delivers. The logo, tagline and ads are just one little piece of the marketing part.
- A company-wide imperative. Everyone in the company is involved in branding.
- Up to you. It happens with or without you. Impressions are made. You might as well make a meaningful one.
Brand is especially important in the technology space because products change so rapidly. Products become quickly outdated or copied. The long-term, consistent enduring connection is the brand. Products can be copied, but a well articulated and well maintained brand cannot be. Brand is the surest way for a company to outlive its products.
The less people understand about something and the less confidence they have in their ability to evaluate it based on what they see and know, the more important brand becomes. When you dont' exactly know how something works and you can't evaluate it based on your knowledge, you rely on the brand and the trust you have for its stature. Technology falls into this definition. When companies have approved vendor lists, most of the time it's the brand that is specified rather than the actual vendor or the features. Trusted brands simplify the purchase decision by supplying a "safe" choice.
An overly simplified look at the steps to establishing a brand identity:
- Find out where you stand now
- Learn what the quality metrics are for your category
- Evaluate the competition
- Develop a marketing plan including audiences and messages by audience as well as how you intend to reach them
- Don't just talk, listen. Include the mechanism for dialog in your marketing plan
- Stick with it.
