Risk & Business Magazine Branch Benefits Consultants Fall 2016 | Page 26

BUILDING YOUR COMPANY’S BRAND

Building Your Company’s Brand
It’s The Difference Between Winning and Losing

B

randing is a great “buzz” word
for most business owners. They
say it a lot. But they really don’t
know what it means. A brand is

“THE
INTANGIBLE SUM
OF A PRODUCT’S
ATTRIBUTES:
ITS NAME,
PACKAGING,
AND PRICE, ITS
HISTORY, ITS
REPUTATION,
AND THE WAY
IT’S ADVERTISED.”
DAVID OGILVY,
AUTHOR OF ON
ADVERTISING.
Branding is very simple. It’s the personality
of your company. Your logo, company
colors and catchy tagline are identifiers
for your brand. So, that’s why most
business owners get confused. On many
occasions I ask small business owners
if they have a brand for their respective
company. They respond “I have business

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cards, a brochure and a very nice website
that all matches”. I quickly inform them
that they just told me about what’s on
the outside of their company. The brand
is more about what’s on the inside. Do
you ever pay attention to the various car
brands in your respective city? Then, do
you realize how many brands fit into one
car manufacturing company. Ford Motor
Company has sports cars, trucks and mini
vans. Chrysler Corporation has sports cars,
trucks and mini vans. Toyota has sports
cars, truck and mini vans. What separates
one car brand from another. How do they
distinguish themselves from the other car
manufacturers? How do these companies
continue to push their respective brands
within each car model? Each brand
develops its own personality.
Now you might say that your company
does not have a budget like the larger
brands in the world. That’s fine. It’s all
relative to scale. What market are you
trying to attract? And more importantly
what market can you afford to attract? It
is possible that you have to start branding
in a smaller circle. Then you can expand

BY: SHAUNDELL NEWSOME

into a larger market. When I first started
my marketing firm I chose a small growing
city in Southern Nevada to target for my
company. My goal was to make sure that
all of the small businesses in North Las
Vegas knew that we could provide them
with marketing services. We concentrated
our efforts within the neighborhood to
ensure that our company’s characteristics,
values and personality were well known in
the business community. It worked like
a charm! We quickly rose to become one
of the top marketing firms in the city and
eventually in Southern Nevada. And later
our company would be recognized by the
Small Business Administration as Nevada’s
Family Owned Business of the Year.
Earlier this year, I read about Brands that
Win on an online blog. They all talked
about the “intangible” or personality of
their company. They never discussed the
budgets or advertising campaigns. Those
things are superficial to the real day to day
“attitude” of the company, its products,
employees and culture. Your company’s
brand is the difference between winning
and losing. +

Shaundell Newsome is considered a marketing and
branding expert by many business publications. His
experience spans over 30 years in various industries
including gaming, hospitality, transportation and small
business. In 2009 the SBA recognized him as Small
Business Champion of the Year. In 2015, Sumnu Marketing
won SBA Family Owned Business of the Year in Nevada.
He is the author of The Twelve Steps of Marketing,
A perfect guide to a complete marketing program.