Universal Brand Principles

Every brand is different. It has unique characteristics, elements and emotions attached to it, yet there are some basic principles that can be applied to almost every brand. They are the tenets by which a brand is communicated, helping support it by providing guidance for focusing the message and the meaning, making it more powerful and connecting it more strongly to its target audience.

After years of developing and managing brands, here are the ones that I believe are the most important:

• Simplicity of message
o If it’s complicated, long or highly technical, chances are the vast majority of our audience won’t get it!

• Consistency of messages, phrases and terms
o Say the same thing over and over again in the same way, over and over again and soon they’ll start to understand and remember.

• Relevance to audience and locale
o Give them a reason to care that matters to them.

• Context of audience understanding
o Give them a reason to care in a way they understand, examples and comments out of context are useless.

• Reason for choosing our brand
o If you cannot tell them why your products and services are right for their needs then you shouldn’t be selling to them. Ultimately it all comes down to giving an audience a compelling reason to choose your company or products over any other option.

Take a look at your brand and measure it against these principles. Are you adhering to them, or is your brand message fragmented? It could mean the difference between success and failure.