Nov 08 2009
Honest-Genuine-Trustworthy
No Boy Scouts here.
T H I S Is Business!
C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in England brands its products with “Honest – Genuine – Trustworthy” because the drug chain recognizes that branding is all about behavior and the values you stand for.
Theirs is no over-inflated “We promise you the world” kind of empty promise that we see with so many businesses. Their three words tell you what they’re all about, without empty promises.
What is YOUR business saying about itself? Are you keeping at least one eye open to the message your business is putting out to internal and external customers? Is what you’re communicating consistent? Are you speaking the same language to your suppliers and investors and referrers as you are to your customers and prospects?
Too many businesses — especially(but not exclusively) those less than ten years old — seem to be glossing over the genuineness of what branding is all about. It is NOT a slogan, a motto, a jingle, or a cutesy themeline.
Branding IS a concise statement of what you’re all about. It is a way of telling then public that this is what you stand for. It is a short version of what your mission statement, vision statement and your goals are all about… all rolled into one! It’s how you think and behave.
C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries prints “Honest – Genuine – Trustworthy” on the surface of the products it sells. Why? Obviously because they believe it! What do YOU believe? Do you stand behind (or alongside) your products and services? Do your customers and prospects know it?
Or are you trying to bamboozle them into thinking you’ve got the world’s greatest product or service at the world’s best price, and by the way, not accepting returns when people find out what you’ve sold them doesn’t live up to what you’ve promised? Why are you promising what you can’t deliver? Branding is about delivering what you promise!
Stop hiring empty-suit marketing groups, agencies, and consultants who tell you they’ll “brand” you with a “branding program” that will bring you untold riches. BS! All they’ll do is charge you big fees to win awards for themselves. I promise they will not deliver sales.
When you go to an outsider for these kinds of services, make sure that individual or group understands what you’re all about and is a proven expert at representing your authenticity in 7 value-packed words or less. Anything else, and you’re wasting your money.
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Hal@Businessworks.US 302.933.0116
Open Minds Open Doors
Thanks for your visit and God Bless You.
