Chapter 11
Branding 101
Customers must recognize that you stand for something.
—Howard Schultz, Founder, Starbucks
Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS once remarked that although he liked being in a rock-and-roll band, he loved being a rock-and-roll brand. What did he mean by that? Think about KISS for a moment. What images and feelings come to mind? Probably that distinctive KISS logo, the white makeup, the outrageous shows, the wild stories. KISS carefully cultivated that bad-boy image, and it's worth a fortune to them. That is what Simmons meant: having a band is great, but it's the brand that pays the bills.
Brand New
What comes to mind when you think about Rolls-Royce, Nike, or Apple Inc.? Each business evokes very clear thoughts, feelings, and images. Each has a strong corporate identity, or brand, associated with its name, and that is no accident. These companies have spent a lot of money getting you to conjure up specific images and feelings when you think about their businesses.
This begs the question, what do you want people to think of when they think about your new small business? The idea of creating a brand for your small business is really quite important. Maybe you think that doing so is beyond your reach, that branding is a concept for the big boys. Think again. Branding is something that you can—and should—do, too.
One concept that you will see repeated throughout this book is that you could not have picked a better time to start or own a small business. A variety ...
