10 BIGGEST BRANDING BOO BOOS TO AVOID

BOO BOO #1 UNDERESTIMATING THE VALUE OF A GOOD LOGO

Many business owners spend hours of time and buckets of money on setting up their business processes, products and services, websites and marketing ideas, but fail to see the value of a good logo. How many logos do you come across and how many of them do you remember? What stood out for you? A good logo captures attention and sends a message that your audience resonates with.

 

BOO BOO #2 USING GENERIC, COOKIE CUTTER LOGOS

We see many business owners choosing to use generic, common ‘cookie cutter’ logos. This can be extremely damaging to your business. Not only does it fail to communicate your business' unique flavour, it can also transfer negative experiences from other brands using the same logo onto your business! Eeek!

 

BOO BOO #3 FAILING TO HAVE A BRAND VOICE AND PERSONALITY

Your business branding needs to have a voice and personality that connects with your audience and should be consistent across your marketing material. Kids want to feel cool. Mums want to feel they are providing security for their family. Your brand voice and personality needs to appeal to your audience’s values. Getting this right engages customers to make them feel a part of the brand.

 

BOO BOO #4 NOT STICKING TO YOUR BRANDING GUIDELINES

Guidelines! This word says it all. They are there to be followed so your audience receives consistent messaging through words and design. Slight changes over time can lose the initial strength of your branding and start to look sloppy or worse still, confuse your audience.

 

BOO BOO #5 OVERCOMPLICATING YOUR BRAND

Branding is best when it is simple and easy to understand. Too many messages or too much detail in colours and designs can create confusion and even rejection. Keep it simple!

 

BOO BOO #6 POOR VISUALS OR NO VISUALS AT ALL

Boring and sometimes embarrassing, unprofessional imagery can hurt your business. This just reflects badly on your business in general, unless you are deliberately going for a very, very budget product or service.

 

BOO BOO #7 NOT UNDERSTANDING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

This is the most common mistake we see. Many businesses don't really understand their target audience. They've either failed to identify them all together, assuming that anyone who likes their product or service is their audience, or they fail to dig deep into their target audience’s personas: what problems they have, what their interests are, what they value and why they would buy from you.

 

BOO BOO #8 BEING IDENTICAL TO YOUR COMPETITORS

This is kind of self-explanatory - help your customers understand how you are different to your competitors within your branding. If you don't tell them, how will they know?

 

BOO BOO #9 HAVING A TAG LINE THAT IS NOT BELIEVABLE

All your marketing should be realistic. If you can't really follow through with what you're promising, then don't say it! Tag lines that promise too much will not be believed. Keep it real.

 

BOO BOO #10 FAILING TO PROTECT YOUR BRAND

Finally, your brand is extremely important. Once you've gone to the trouble of developing it, like everything else in your business, you should protect it so other businesses can't steal it. You can do this by trade marking logos, messages, colours etc. Visit IP Australia for more information, or our colleagues at IP Wealth.

 

If you would like more information; help with your branding; or if you have any queries, please contact us.