A primary fact that should be at the hearts and minds and behind all the efforts of every advertiser is that a brand establishes the relationship between a business and its consumers. Whether you have a strong faithful relationship or a weak seasonal relationship with your consumers would depend entirely on your brand and your management and maintenance of its overall image.

A quick example would be to compare Apple and Microsoft. I'm sure most of us would agree if I say that Microsoft can be likened to a rather stiff, purely-business kind of person like your boss, or your calculus professor. And Apple, on the other hand, can be thought of more as a cool pal with the hippest gadgets and what-nots with the funniest jokes and wittiest quips.

Both statements on these two companies are neither right nor wrong. Instead of being objective statements, these are the perceptions that might stand for the kind of relationship each brand has on the public. They are mostly feelings towards a certain brand and consequently the business behind it.

Every businessman should know that before the creation of a business name or symbol, the conceptualization of what perception you desire your business to have in your consumer's minds comes first and foremost.

Bring Your Brand To Life

If you notice the examples I cited in the previous paragraph, I tied the brands to a person to better illustrate the differences between the two companies. In evaluating, managing and strengthening your brand, this can prove to be a very effective approach.

What are the basic elements that we use to identify a person? We associate a person with his eyes, his hair, his laugh, his personality, his talent and sometimes even an experience we witnessed with that person. Same thing applies to your brand.

If you ask someone if they know your brand, will they be able to pinpoint the colors present in your logo,
the icons you used, the message or slogan tied with it or will they share an experience they had with your business?

Answers to these questions help you draw a picture of how your brand is perceived by the public. You can then use this to compare it with the conceptualized perception you came up with earlier on.

Identifying Strengths and Diminishing Weaknesses

Now that you have breathed life into your brand, you then have a more visual and moving representation of your brand in your mind and no longer just a symbol with some colors and a tagline. To be able to better identify weak spots and strengths, you can break down Mr. Brand into these parts: his skill, his appearance, his personality.

Mr. Brand has skills. Being a business owner, of course you know he has skills. But stepping into the shoes of the consumer, if you look at Mr. Brand, would you know instantly that he is credible enough and reliable enough for a task he claims to be good at? Would you trust that he has skills. We know a geek when we see one. We know a jock when we see one. Will people know or at least feel that your business is good at what you are doing when they see or hear your brand?

The appearance of your brand depends mostly on the performance of the overall appeal of your logo, the colors you used and the slogan you attached to it if any. Think of it this way, going back to your little mascot, does Mr. Brand look like he can fit in and stand out in a gala with your competitors? Or will he appear meek, amateur and feeble and eventually slink away to a dark corner neglected and then forgotten? Is your brand tied with the visual representation that can stick to people's minds even without associating your symbol with an experience or a commercial? Is it innovative and representative of your business and what you offer? Do you see room for evolution, reinvention and growth if the opportunity for expansion presents itself? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you're on the right track.

Going to personality, it may sound weird but images do have personalities. Compare the image of a fork with a flower. See the difference? Same thing goes for your brand. Whether you have a brand with a strong personality or a weak one depends on the initial impression people get by looking at it and remembering your ad history.

For instance, someone can say “I think Mac is cool because they have cool icons with cool vector ads for the iPod I remember seeing relentlessly everywhere I go.” Right here, we introduced another factor important in establishing a strong brand. Consistency. Consistency develops not just recall but a stronger personality.

In this aspect of your brand, we combine, the visual and sentimental appeal with the emotions triggered in the recollection of your past ads. If you showed a consistent theme, mood and overall message all throughout your ad campaigns, you have established a stronger more prominent personality and all your color printing efforts have paid off.

It is not that easy developing a brand, triggering your desired impression, or the reputation that will eventually shower you with the big bucks. But if you start on the right foot, and pay attention to all these three aspects of your brand, success is a definite possibility. It is pretty fun too!