What is a brand and why does your business need to have one? The brand of your business is how you appear to others.  It is your identity as a business and with it you are able to shape how your audience sees you through your business name, color combination, logo, slogan, advertisements, and anything that stands out to help identify you from your competition.  Your brand offers the personality of your business or product and allows the market to know your business and what it stands for.  And, yes, to the question of if your business needs a brand!

My own brand came from my decision that I wanted to focus on “SUCCESS”! Success can be defined in many ways, but Purple Diamond’s focus was to help business owners to realize their own idea of success and work with them to develop a marketing strategy to reach that goal.   The name Purple Diamond LLC came before the branding strategy was created, but I knew that if I wanted business owners to hire Purple Diamond to help them with their branding they needed to see strong branding from my company.   As many of you know, branding is not created overnight and it takes much dedication and strategy to have it become a strong identification for your business.  To support my  brand,  I worked on taglines that would use the word “success” in a way that was easy to remember and one that I would use on all my marketing material.  Though I liked the tagline: “Quality rocks with Purple Diamond”, I knew that I was more than just offering “quality”  and that every business owner related to the word “SUCCESS”.   So emerged the tagline that my son created: “Success wears the Purple Diamond!”.  It had the company name in the tagline and it created an image of wearing purple diamonds which are very rare and expensive stones. But, more importantly, the word “success” dominated the tagline and offered a clear understanding of what Purple Diamond does and does well.  Finally, I used the color purple as another symbol of success since in ancient times the color purple was worn by royalty and since the hue was expensive to make it was seen as another symbol of  great wealth.  This color dominates my business in that I choose to use it on all my marketing and I also wear purple clothing and jewelry Monday through Friday and carry a purple briefcase and purple iphone and give purple diamond paperweights to my clients as a reminder of our commitment to their success.   Why is it important for me to share with you what Purple Diamond does to consistently promote the brand and image of the company? Because branding is more than just coming up with a clever name and tagline and other eye catching advertisements.  The most important element of a brand is that you remain consistent and that you never stop promoting it in your messaging.  This brand must be part of you. Something that your business believes in and lives each day in how you deliver services and offer your expertise to your clients.  If you have a tagline or slogan and you can’t remember what it is or never see it on your marketing material and don’t use it when speaking with potential clients, then you are not supporting your brand and chances are it is as good as not having a tagline or slogan.  Branding takes time and effort and a commitment to allowing your targeted audience to catch on to the identity of your business.

Finally, you will know when you have branded successfully when you walk in to a networking event, a client’s office, or possibly a new prospect who heard of you and they already know your tagline, recognize your logo, and they tell you how impressed they are with the branding you have done with your business.  This is the success I have had with Purple Diamond and the success I want to share with business owners who are committed to making this happen for their own business.

All my best to your success ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

So, how about a service business that doesn’t have a tangible product to put in a colorful package and sell in a store, do you really need to think about color? Yes! Having the right color or colors in your marketing material and your website can put you ahead of your competitors and leave a lasting positive impression on those you meet. Studies have shown that color increases brand recognition significantly and will increase the chance of people seeing and remembering you or your advertisement. How many times have you glanced at a newspaper or magazine and your eyes are drawn to the color ad on the page over the black and white one? Did you know that the color “red” is often used with fast food restaurants because they have determined that it can actually trigger the response of hunger? However, “red”, can also evoke a negative emotion since it is associated with anger, strength, and action items. If used too much the color could work against a business that is trying to have a calming effect like a Life Coaching Service.

Look closely at the colors you have chosen for your business. Are you memorable? Does the color go with the services you are offering? Ask a marketing consultant or a graphic artist for help in determining what the best color for your business branding is. My own color came from the name of my business Purple Diamond. I recognized that the history of the color purple, “a regal color that symbolizes great wealth”, was exactly what I wanted for a marketing coaching and advertising agency. I wanted my clients to feel like royalty and know that by working with me they would yield great wealth and have success. It is also a color that stands out and leaves a lasting impression and that is what great marketing is! So, what color have you used for your business? Do you need a color analysis or update?

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”