Your
BRAND Is
Not ABOUT YOU
>>
BY DEB GABOR
When people imagine my job as a brand expert , they usually picture a marketing whiz sitting in a closed-off boardroom brainstorming and crafting a perfect brand .
That couldn ’ t be further from the truth .
The reality is , branding doesn ’ t come from your company . Branding comes from your customers .
Your brand lives in your customers ’ needs and desires , as well as their perceptions of you and their connection to you . Branding is not an insideout activity ; it ’ s an outside-in activity .
Real branding comes down to getting inside your customers ’ heads and then working inward from there . What do your customers think ? How do they behave ? What do they need ? Where do they go to get it ? Where do they shop ? How much are they going to spend ? What ’ s important to them ? How does it make them feel ? And how does it advance the goals that they have for their lives ?
This is where branding starts .
DON ’ T KNOW WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS THINK ? ASK THEM !
Most companies don ’ t have a six-figure budget for market research . So how do you learn about your customers ?
Lo and behold , you learn who your customers are by actually finding and having a conversation with them . There are many different ways to talk to your customers . Conversations can take place through informal market research , or through formal research
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