Ghost Branding – The invisible branding for your Business

For a minute, let’s just keep aside every stereotypical thought that we have about branding. The thoughts of “a brand is not just a logo” blah blah blah…. Anyone looking for ideas in branding can just Google for these ‘tips’ and find hundreds of them on the internet or just talking to their peers.

I’m sure you’ll do just fine with these basics and reach to that point of making a noticeable mark in your industry. But what comes after that? What happens when you reach that stagnation point where you are in a position to grow, but trying to figure out how? Years back, I had read a quote somewhere, which stuck with me. It simply said

“Don’t expect to get a different result by doing the same thing again and again…”

So I’m just going to go on the border-line of keeping myself as a Branding expert (maybe just cross it slightly to give you advice as a business coach) and help you out with a few tips which you can keep in mind to help you with a better branding.

1.      Keeping the work-environment happy

During one of my branding projects, I met one of my old friends in a company where I was carrying out their Brand-Audit. As the conversation grew later on, my casual question of “How is the company like?” turned to an hour-long rant of how it sucks to work there. Mind you, the company I’m referring to here is a very big MNC. This made me realize how much the word of your employees, when you are not present, matters to build your brand reputation.

2.      Keeping the paper-work trendy

And by paper-work, I don’t mean your documentation… I mean it here in the sense that wherever your company is being represented, let it be of the best quality. No matter how good you are on the internet, traditional marketing is equally (if not more) important in your branding. I have seen companies having amazing designing skills ruin it all just to save a few bucks on the printing. Your visiting cards, letterheads, office stationary, packaging of products, brochures and fliers, books, forms, greetings and everything else I might have missed in between. Let them be top-notch. Let anyone who comes in contact with your company feel they have made friends with royalty…

3.      Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes

Over the years, I have met people of varied attitudes. One of the hardest to work with is those who are unwilling to listen to anyone else. It’s an arduous task to convince a person, set in his thinking, what is better for the market. They forget one golden rule here, “The Company is for the customer, the customer is not for the Company...” Whenever taking a decision, just ask yourself this, “Would I like it if I was a customer?”

4.      Constant evaluation and improvements

Just like the rabbit who took the tortoise casually, you might be over-run by competition if you just keep on believing blindly that you are untouchable. Constantly evaluate your brand, your management, your employees and most importantly, your customers, to understand where your company has the scope to improve. Take feedbacks seriously, evaluate and debrief projects, carry out necessary market research and take measurements to bring about a positive change in your brand.

5.      Being aware of your industry

I specially say this because I remember a very distinct incident in my hometown. Our college days were spent in one of the local favorite burger houses which was named as Burger King. However, when the real-American burger chain entered, they sued the local shop and made them pay compensation for using their name. No matter how good and famous you may be, it is always better to be alert of your industry happenings. Register your business, keep check on where your logos and company verticals are being used (both online and offline) or hire agencies to keep check on your company’s online/offline reputation.

Though these may not seem directly related to branding, you will be surprised how much it helps in making your brand recognizable and move above the clutter. But I guess if I may say anything more, you might confuse me with a Business Coach. So before I leave, I’ll give you this much advice for you to get started… “A brand is not just a logo.. :-)”