If you’re a startup company and don’t yet have a brand to analyze, you should assess the image of the business arena you’re trying to get into. let say you’re starting a daycare centre for kids, you should think about the mental images people may have about daycare centre in general.
So knowing the predetermined notions you’re dealing with, you’re now in a good position to develop a brand image that reflects the unique attributes and what distinguishes the organization you’re starting.
Here are some questions you should take into consideration when you are doing your brand assessments:
- What do people like or dislike about you, your business, or your business arena?
- What do they trust or distrust?
- What do they think you are and do?
- Why do they choose your offering?
- How do they think you compare with your competitors?
- How do they find your offering relevant and a good fit with their lives and needs?
Its always a good idea not solely relying on yourself and top management, but to talk to customers or prospective customers, team members who work on the front line of your business, people who answer incoming calls, take product orders, field complaints, and fix service problems. Use the following questions in your interviews. They’re designed to help you collect information on your current brand identity without making you or those you’re interviewing feel self-conscious about their answers:
- In a sentence, how would you describe our business?
- How would you describe our products or services?
- What one reason, above all others, causes you and others to buy from our business?
- When you consider buying from our business, what three other companies or brands do you also consider?
- What one reason, above all others, do you think causes people to buy from one of our competitors?
- Do you think there is high or low awareness of our business or brand in the marketplace?
- Do you think there are clear and distinct differences between our offerings and those of our competitors? If so, what are a few of the distinct differences that make our offerings unique or more desirable?
- If you were to compare our business to a car, what car would it be, and why? What car would you associate with each of our three top competitors?
- If you were to compare our business to an actor or actress, who would it be, and why? Who would you associate with each of our three top competitors?
If you have a small business and you have casual conversations with clients and prospects on an ongoing basis, you can ask the questions in informal face-to-face meetings, but If your customer base is large or geographically diverse, you may need to pose the questions through written or phone surveys.
As you go through the process of launching your research, provide your own answers first to those questions, followed by answers from your key management team. Set those answers aside while you ask those same questions to employees, business associates, customers, and prospects. You may be surprised of how others may see your business and brand which will lead to an honest assessment of the brand you currently have in your own mind and, more importantly, in the minds of others.
Launch your research and find the right branding for your company.