What does marketing branding mean for your small business?

January 17, 2013

A brand is the total consumers’ perception of the brand.

By Maureen McCabe

Did you know that the word “brand” comes from the Old Norse word brandr which means “to burn”? The ranchers burned their mark (or brand) onto each cow to show ownership.

What are you doing to burn your brand on your customers’ and prospective customers’ minds?

Branding is not just matching brochures and business cards. It’s more than a nice looking logo and slogan (or tagline) which communicates what you do. NOTE: these slogans can take hours to write; I know that first-hand. To be candid, I question if they truly Generate More Profits which happens to be my tagline, McCabe Marketing, a Toronto Marketing Consultant firm! (In 2017 for our 10th anniversary I changed it to Proven Team Delivers Results.

A brand signifies what it stands for. When I drive by Tim’s I think of Canada, good value, and family (a parent watching their child play hockey while drinking a cup of coffee).

Your brand is about your entire company and how you communicate what you do and how you do it. When done correctly, proper branding results in more sales of not only one product but for associated products. Here is an example of Canada’s best brand.

I don’t drink coffee or tea because I don’t like the taste. I’m probably the only Canadian who goes to Tim Horton’s for their great and nutritious chili! It’s an ideal quick lunch. When they introduced the lasagna because I have trust and confidence in their brand, I ordered a bowl. I was horribly disappointed; it tasted like day-old, over-boiled noodles with little to no meat sauce! It was soooo terrible; I didn’t eat more than three spoonfuls, threw it out, and then ordered a small chili expressing my disappointment to the cashier.

NOTE: I was not surprised when it was dropped from their menu. In retrospect, I probably should have known that something was peculiar as who serves lasagna in a bowl?

What does branding mean for your small business?

Your brand includes your staff and how they treat your customers and prospective customers. Empower your employees.

Let them do what’s right for the customer when there is a negative experience. In this case, the Tim’s employee could have made a quick decision to offer me a couple of Timbits® – with a nod and smile. Or better yet, engage your employees that if they can’t handle a customer situation on the spot, to speak with their manager or you, the owner – immediately. In this day and age with social media, consumers like me write reviews – both good and bad, and in this case, Tim Horton’s got a disaster of a review from me.

If you need help with your brand marketing, please contact me for a free consultation. Learn how to attract more customers likely with less effort!

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