Expandable Brands: A Guide to Growing Business Locations While Protecting Your Brand

By Clare Balmer

To achieve long-term success companies must develop relationships that go beyond just a simple transaction. With more buying options than ever, consumers are increasingly looking to build long-term relationships with businesses they trust, based not just on price and service but on how that company interacts with them and
makes them feel.

Just as important as developing an effective brand that looks great is maintaining it during expansion. When it comes to growth to more locations or selling a franchise system there are many areas that need to be addressed and systemised, and just before expansion begins is the optimal time to do this.

Branding fanatic and professional designer Clare Balmer shows you how to create a powerful and effective brand and also how to ensure that growth is not hampered by brand dilution in
the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9780992506094

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Establishing and building a business brand can be a daunting exercise but in the ever-challenging world of business, being significant, recognisable and emotionally connected to an audience is becoming more and more important. No amount of tricks or outsourcing will help establish your brand in the mind of your customer. It takes clarity, commitment and the right help to make it happen. It also has to come from a genuine place – you have to be the brand you say you are and not just give lip service to your customer base or staff. Powerful brands stick in the minds of customers and this creates a familiarity that makes people feel reassured about their decision to engage with a brand. Customers simply know what to expect.

So how can this ease and familiarity be created in different locations run by so many different business owners or managers? Growing an existing brand can be challenging because any expansion in business necessitates the management or leadership team tackling many issues simultaneously. Two key areas are systems and branding. If you have the right systems in place you can deliver a consistent experience that meets the expectations of franchisees or managers, suppliers and customers. It is important that these systems support the first and ongoing contact that people have with the business. The brand includes how staff talk to customers and what customers see, read, hear, or even touch or taste in some instances. Once you have all of these aligned to match what your brand stands for and its inherent values, you have a very powerful brand and system.

When people understand your company and the value you offer they are willing to pay a premium, but I wouldn’t suggest putting up your prices just because you think this will position you differently from another brand. You have to earn that price. If you build equity in your brand by carefully considering how it looks, feels and operates then people can respect the effort you make to connect with them. They are more willing to hand over their hard-earned money to be aligned with what you do and offer. If you want to compete on price alone then this may not be the book for you. You can have cheap prices and have a brand that matches this, but customers still expect more and more even from cheap brands so it is becoming difficult to have this as your sole strategy in business. Cheap prices, good service and generally lots of marketing investment are what make a lot of ‘cheap’ brands successful. Bunnings offer ‘lowest prices’ because they are a big operation, but they also know that isn’t enough. They have consistent television and print advertising, good customer service training and a very organised approach to stock management.

Franchising in Australasia continues to grow in popularity and it is seen by many as the ideal way of expanding a business into something bigger and more significant in an increasingly competitive business landscape. The other growth alternative is to expand the business under one company with many managers, staff and locations. Both of these growth paths include challenges in keeping messages and the visual aspects of the brand consistent.

What is the big deal about a brand?

A major reason for writing this book was to highlight an often overlooked area among business owners who are looking to expand their business: branding. Why is it overlooked? From my experience talking and working closely with business owners involved in franchising and business expansion, it comes down to a lack of understanding about what value branding has, a lack of funding to dedicate towards branding activity, or simply sliding it down the list of important things to address. I want to draw greater attention to this topic of expansion branding to clear up the general confusion about what it is and to make it easier for readers to understand branding when applying it to their own business.

I love working on and analysing brands, and will share information that will assist people in making more meaningful, reputable and ethical brands for their company. Why is this so important? More engaged customers, staff and franchisees or managers will be attained with better brand planning, design and investment. This translates to more recognition and ultimately more return. I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t want to be recognised for all the right reasons, and money, well that just gives you the freedom to operate in the best capacity to get stuff done!

If you opt for the franchise system direction you will no doubt face franchisees asking the question, ‘Why am I paying for this?’ It’s your job to justify their payments and align them to the value of not just the direct services but the value of your systems and brand.

If you are planning on expansion under the one company, your managers in each location need to be armed with all the tools to clearly operate and communicate brand messages to staff and customers on the ground. Assuming people know what you stand for is simply not good enough. You need to tell all of the relevant people, all of the time, to reinforce your vision.

Setting a design style for your company is a great way of creating familiarity and distinction. The more effort you put into it at the start the more set up you will be for the future. I liken it to successful car models. When you have a great car model you can get a lot of use out of the one design. You can have features that upgrade year after year, but if you put a lot of thought into the shape and style of the car it does not need to significantly change to remain relevant and successful. Much like businesses that also need to upgrade over time. Your features should always be improving, but if you can get your style right then you get the maximum benefit of not having to redesign everything. Your customers and potential customers benefit from being able to recognise you and being familiar with how you look and operate.

The longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform was the VW Beetle. The final production of the original VW Beetle design stopped in 2003 with the last car rolling off the manufacturing line in Mexico. Over twenty-one-and-a-half million Beetles had been produced over this long history. Planning well and knowing what you want your design to achieve in your business can save you spending money unnecessarily where it isn’t needed. The Beetle still lives on to this day in its new, rejuvenated form, designed in 1997. The more modern design still reflects the essence of the original car with more modern features and curves.

‘A BRAND IS NOT A PRODUCT, A PROMISE OR A FEELING. IT’S THE SUM OF ALL THE EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE WITH A COMPANY.’

AMIR KASSAEI, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, DDB (ADVERTISING)

‘EVERYTHING WE DO INFLUENCES OUR BRAND IMAGE – THE STORES, THE SERVICE, THE ADVERTISING, THE UNIFORMS, THE CLEANLINESS OF OUR PLAYGROUNDS, THE SEATS, DECOR, THE QUALITY OF THE TOYS USED IN PROMOTIONS – EVERYTHING.’

CHARLIE BELL, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MCDONALD’S CORPORATION

So what’s the secret sauce to all of this branding business? Do I just have to look sharp and create great marketing? As Amir Kassaei rightly points out, it is the sum of all the experiences, not just one. A brand is the company’s identity and it should reflect a personality that people can connect with and understand. As competition grows and similar services continue to enter the market, companies are looking to create ways to better connect with their customers and form more rewarding relationships. A strong brand can stand out, cut through and gain trust with people so as to survive the turbulent world of business.

So what is a brand?

The name ‘branding’ itself can lead you down the garden path a little. When you think of the word ‘brand’, you might think of a hot metal stamp applied to a cow, a sign of ownership burned into the flesh of cattle. It’s no wonder that people get confused and think a logo is the brand. When you search for ‘brand’ images online you will get a mix of cow pictures and business logos.

Branding in business is best described as all the features that make us feel as if the company has a personality or identity. It includes the reputation of the company, and how people relate to it. I’m sure you have met people who are all over the place emotionally, physically and visually. They are pretty hard to understand and difficult to support, or like, because you are not quite sure what they are about. I’m not talking about eccentric people, as sometimes eccentric is the best personal brand out there. Take Lady Gaga, for example. You would probably put her in the eccentric category for really inventive fashion and taking pop music into a creative new area. However, people understand it and connect to her, so much so that she was the richest celebrity under the age of 30 in the world for 2012/13. This is even after she cancelled a tour due to hip surgery.

So what am I referring to when I mention ‘all over the place’? I’m talking about confusing behaviour by brands. This is exactly what a brand should avoid. There are brands out there that just don’t make sense; you don’t really know what to expect because they don’t communicate well, everything looks inconsistent, and they contradict themselves by having expensive prices but looking cheap, or vice versa. I could go on and on but you get the idea. They are a mess and you don’t have confidence in their personality or trust what they say.

So what is the opposite to this? Being consistent and clear and allowing people to know who you are and what you stand for, and never compromising on it. It’s not easy to do, but it is well worth the effort to