Often small or midsize companies who create a new product or service tend to go straight to market while skipping the all-important activity of designing a brand identity. This is a huge mistake and one that can be easily avoided.

The brand identity of your product or service is the touchstone of your overall brand campaign. Your brand identity will ensure high levels of consistency across all aspects of your brand campaign, including: the messaging you choose for your ad campaigns, the logo you create, and even how you decorate your office.

Considering the following 5 key elements will guarantee you an air-tight, winning brand identity:

Determine Your Competitive Set: Your competitive set is the specific industry and niche in which you will be competing. In order to crisply define your brand, you must take a careful look around at those with whom you will be competing and define the arena in which they operate.

Create a Well-Defined Value Proposition: Your value proposition is 1 or 2 sentences that clearly describe why customers should buy from you. In other words: what value do you offer them? Why should they choose you over your closest competitor? A good value proposition statement shows you really know your business and your customer base.

Identity Your Key Differentiators: Your product or service must stand out from the pack in some way in order to be successful in the marketplace. How does your offering set itself apart? Put together 4-5 traits that differentiate your product or service from those of the competition.

Articulate a Clear Customer Promise: What is the one thing that customers can expect every time they interact with your company? Is it a friendly smile? Guaranteed lowest rates? Do you have someone available to talk with 24/7/365? If so, make sure you articulate this promise. And, make absolutely sure you deliver on it, every time.

Outline Your Key Value Dimension Rankings: Finally, you need to be realistic about where you will rank relative to your overall market niche on what I call your key value dimension rankings. Not every hotel has 5-star hotel service quality, but then again not every hotel charges 5-star hotel prices: service quality and pricing are classic tradeoffs. Your company will be able to most precisely define your brand when you can accurately assess where your brand will rank versus the overall competitive set in your market niche in terms of these ten dimensions: low price, first-to-market prestige, durability, luxury appeal, ergonomics/ease-of-use, the cool factor, pre-sales service, quality of purchase experience, post-sales support, and functionality/features. Determine 2 or 3 of these key value dimensions in which you intend to rank among the Top 10% in your competitive set.

About the Author

Build a better brand for your business. Download my FREE eBook at: http://www.jedcjones.com/brandmybusiness/