There’s a common misconception in the small business world that looks like this:

Brand = Logo

That’s simply not the case–a brand is so much more! If you think your brand is the same thing as your logo, then you’re missing out on your chance to harness most of your brand’s power.

Here are the 5 powerful parts of your brand:

1. Brand Positioning I call this the foundation of your brand. This is where you get really clear on exactly what your business is all about and stake your claim. Your position is your chance to choose what you want your business to create. You get to declare who you are, what you do, what makes you different from the competition, who your ideal clients are and what impact you make on them.

Your position can even say what you aren’t–you can say “unlike other business coaches, who are milking the same tired marketing approaches that you see everywhere, I focus on finding new, innovative ways that you can market and monetize your business and I make them easy, so that you can be ahead of the pack”.

You need to create your brand position before you do anything else with your brand. When you have a strong brand position that’s focused and clear, you’ll be able to create the rest of your brand to express that. Everything in your brand will be consistently singing the same song, which is essential to creating a profitable brand.

2. Brand Identity This is where the logo fits in. A logo is a part of your brand, certainly–it’s the face of your business. When you pair your logo with other visual elements of your brand like your color palette, website design, look and feel, your headshot, and other design elements, these make up your visual brand, which is also called your brand identity.

In your brand identity, you can communicate about your business and to show your style.

Your brand identity speaks to your ideal clients through symbolism, the meaning of colors, emotion in photos, and the overall “look and feel” of your designs.

3. Brand Message Every place where you’re writing about your business is a part of your brand message. This is your business name, tagline, features and benefits, your expert title, and the text in your website and on all of your other marketing materials.

Your message is another opportunity to showcase your brand positioning.

To make the most of your message, use those “just-right” words. By using your words precisely and by picking interesting words with personality, you’ll be able to communicate effectively and clearly with your clients.

4. Brand Strategy Your brand strategy is an intentional, step-by-step plan that lays out how you’re going to use your brand message and brand identity to communicate your brand positioning to your ideal clients. What pieces, exactly, do you need to create? What will each communicate? How are you going to get them in front of your ideal clients? What’s your plan to keep everything consistent?

Without a strategy, the other components of your brand are simply bits of stuff you’ve designed or created. The strategy is the part that helps you convert those “bits of marketing stuff” into paying clients.

5. Brand Experience This is the experience of doing business with your company. Are you pampering your clients with VIP service? Is your business about get-results accountability? Do you guide your clients through your process and teach them what you know, or do you just jump in and get things done for them so they don’t have to worry about it?

From the time that your client first hears about you, while they’re learning about you, to when they hire you, to the time when you’re delivering your service, all the way through to your follow-up after you’re creating an experience for them. What does your experience say about your brand?

The bottom line is, you have to think both deeper and beyond your logo when you create your brand. So plan your brand on all levels to communicate and you’ll create a brand that’s powerful and profitable!

By: Erin Ferree

As you can tell from the series of posts that I’m making today, I was a bit behind on my reading. But many of these articles were definitely worth my time, like this one on the Silicon Valley WebGuild that shows a survey from the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2008 annual “Masters of Marketing” conference (October 2008).

The survey polled attendees via handheld devices about their marketing mix, budgets, plans, and tactics.

One of the questions asked attendees how much they plan to spend on marketing in 2009 vs. 2008: 20 percent expect to increase spending, 28% expect to hold stable, and 20% to decrease spending. I thought this bright news for marketing consultants given all the fear surrounding the current economy.

Read Full Article on Silicon Valley WebGuild

How will you adjust your current marketing and media plans to account for the recent downturn in the financial markets?
- Spending will be reduced (33%)
- Spending will be constant / marketing mix will be reallocated (33%)
- Surprisingly, we will spend more (27%)
- No changes, we will keep everything status quo (8%)

How does your CEO view your marketing efforts with respect to growth?
- As a brand-building investment (56%)
- As an unaccountable but necessary expense (21%)
- Not sure (15%)
- As an unnecessary expense (8%)

What is your preferred social media site for driving brand growth?
- None (32%)
- YouTube (20%)
- Facebook (18%)
- All (12%)
- LinkedIn (10%)
- MySpace (6%)
- Twitter (3%)

As you look toward 2009, how much do you plan to spend on marketing vs. 2008?
- Increase spending more than 10% (26%)
- Increase spending less than 10% (13%)
- Hold stable (28%)
- Decrease spending less than 10% (14%)
- Decrease spending more than 10% (19%)

Which discipline will offer your brand the largest opportunity for growth?
- Traditional 30-second spots (17%)
- One page advertisements in a newspaper/magazine (7%)
- Web advertising (16%)
- Social media integration (28%)
- Direct Marketing (7%)
- Grassroots, viral public relations (19%)
- Radio (5%)

How does your company currently measure brand growth?
- Sales and net income (70%)
- Third party brand equity valuations (15%)
- Shareholder value (9%)
- Household penetration (4%)
- Company culture (3%

By: Avery Horzewski