Most often than not, businesses owners perceive their company logo design as an item on the check list to get done when starting out on their new venture or launching a new company. Usually considerable care, time and effort are invested in coming up with the perfect business name, which is great! The right name is the foundation stone of a great brand. If you are on this path of starting a new business, then this article would definitely make you pause and think.

Next, they need to get a logo to go with the name. If the business owner has some experience with computers or graphics software or sometimes, even MS Word, they may be tempted to hash out a design themselves. In some cases, a friend, relative or friend of a friend may have some experience with graphic design, and the business owner may simply give them the opportunity to come up with something “awesome”. In yet other cases, the business owner may be tempted to visit a crowdsourcing website and let 100s of “designers” bid for their business by submitting a lof of logo design concepts. All these stem from the desire to spend as little as possible on the logo design.

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Have you ever wondered how multi-national companies like McDonalds, Coca-cola, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Motorola, Sony and UPS came up with their names? Just think, if these companies have some lame or forgettable brand name, would they be as big as they are now? Every company starts out by thinking of a name. A law firm, for example, commonly uses the names of its associates, like Smith, Johnson and Brown Law Firm. The name of a woman's specialty shop should be something sensual and exciting, like Victoria's Secret or Bare Essentials. A clothing line should boast the popular designer's name.

Corporate branding does not just involve the company name. It also includes the corporate logo design and the overall company image. More importantly, it conveys your corporate identity. When you think of computers, Microsoft comes to mind. Instead of photocopier, you think of Xerox. Toothpaste equals Colgate. Coming up with the perfect brand name that will stick to the consumer's mind is as important as coming up with the finances to start a company - be it big or small.

1.       First Impressions Last

When you distribute a business card, see what dominates that small piece of paper. Brand names and logos. Bland brand names never work. When you think of a name, follow these rules:

-          Be original.

-          Do not be overly creative - business cards must be functional. Sure a uniquely sized/shaped card might generate interest but it's very hard for a secretary to file in a business card rack.

-          From your options, choose one that has a global appeal.


2.       Branding

In today's global marketplace, a brand is considered as a valuable corporate asset and a marketing tool for success. Thus, you should always give careful consideration to different cultures if you plan to conquer a worldwide market.


3.       The Simpler The Better

When creating the company logo, it is much more advisable to be creative and distinctive. The more conservative designs apply to a target market of the same kind. If you apply the same concept to a company whose customers are supposed to be young and hip, they will fall asleep as soon as they hear your brand name and see your logo. With a younger clientele, it is best to be energetic and creative when thinking of corporate naming and branding.


4.       Brand Name Equals Image

With the Internet being considered as the most powerful marketing tool, it is very important that your customers remember something distinctive about your company. Give out a clear picture of the message that you want to impart and the image that you want to project. Strong graphic design is the ace up your sleeve to leave a lasting impact of your company.


5.       Be Consistent

Corporate branding takes time. It includes your company name, your logo, your customer service, the staff, the building location, the state of the offices, even your maintenance staff and the company vehicles. As years pass, your company develops a certain reputation. It is a good thing if, upon hearing the name of your company, people would immediately associate it with the service or product that you represent. Make sure that you stick to the corporate image that you want to project.


6.       Create A Powerful, Branded Web Site

Marketing though the Internet is yet another aspect of corporate branding. You should develop a distinctive, informative and complete web site. This is so that customers would have a clear understanding of your company profile.


7.       Research, Manage, Dominate!

Try visiting websites which offer corporate branding and advertising services. Better yet, look for the people behind the big companies and ask or research on how these establishments have gotten to where they are now. Check on their corporate structure and how they began. Make sure that the people who make up the corporate ladder have enough enthusiasm and confidence about the company which should rub off on the rest of the staff. It would never hurt your company if you have a good personnel attitude and an intense pride of work.

Good Luck; Good Branding
Tuxedo Branding Blog Administrator

Branding a small business is a must if you want to succeed in a competitive world. The importance of branding a business disregarding its size is based on not only real benefits, products and services that your business possesses, but also an image concept that all businesses should keep in mind.

From color business cards to global business identity, depending on how effectively you brand your business, the more or the less opportunities of success will knock at your door. The reason why large companies brand their businesses is because they know this is the best way to differentiate their products and services from their competitors while creating a corporate image.

Many small business owners believe it is not necessary to development a corporate image, particularly those whose business integrate just a few individuals as staff, or even when they own a one-man business, using the internet for selling or promoting their professional services. However, even a small business should utilize the same principles as the large enterprises to brand their business.

Furthermore, if your business has business cards, stationery and other branded elements along with a matching website, you will not only create a corporate image, but also loyal relationships with your customers and prospective customers, who will find more reliability with a small business with these characteristics, than others without a professional look and feel.

Because you only have the opportunity to impress new customers once, you should make sure that this impression is a positive and lasting introduction and handshake, only possible if you brand your business conveniently and professionally. There is no need to spend thousands of dollar to achieve it, but do not go to the other extreme using uneven elements.

Small businesses should be aware of the elements that will make their brand unique and recognizable, including consistency between online and printed elements, such as your logo, signage, business cards and even a slogan that helps people understand at a glance your business's mission statement.

Effective branding must achieve these goals; be consistent and never differing, carrying the same logo, colors, slogans and statements through to every element of your business, all of them always visible and unique, hence the need to avoid elements that anyone can find anywhere such as free or cheap clipart.

Creating your brand, whatever your budget requires a business plan to have a solid appreciation on whom your customers will be and what can you do to serve them. This is not only a matter of elegant stationary or catchy business cards; it is the most important deployment of a small business for an eventual growth in future terms.

When it comes to branding no one ever thinks about who actually uses it. Most simply think of brands as items you pick up while shopping or maybe even the retailer you are shopping in but countries use branding the same way businesses do.

You see a country's "customers" are its investors, tourists, traders, market intermediaries, NGOs, and office-holders in other countries and in multilateral institutions. Their interactions with one another take place in a complex environment, affected by governments, social forces, cultural factors, and markets.

The country must clearly identify its clientele: who are they, what motivates them, what do they do and buy (and how, where and when), what are their decision-making processes and priorities, who influences these and how. It is important to remember that people and institutions buy goods and services to satisfy needs. Nation branding is tantamount to casting the country as the superior if not exclusive answer to those needs it can cater to or even create.

The country's brand manager would do well to analyze the purchasing process: how, when, and where transactions are concluded. Understanding consumption and investment habits and patterns allows for better targeting and education of relevant market segments in order to influence and alter the behavior of target customers. They must also understand the people not only living in the country but visiting it. Understanding their psychology and demographics is crucial.

In this scenario the brand manager must distinguish consumer customers from business customers and from institutional customers. Consumer customers purchase goods and services from the country for their own consumption. Even tourists are consumer customers.

Business customers buy goods and services from the country on behalf of third parties. Tour operators are business customers. Business customers operate on a large scale and are, therefore, less numerous and less dispersed than consumer customers. Consequently, it is easier to foster long-term and close relationships with them. But, being dependent as they are on end-users, theirs is a volatile, demand-driven market. Moreover, business customers are tough negotiators (though some of them seek quality rather than price advantage).

Institutional customers assemble information about the country and analyze it in order to make or to influence political and credit decisions. Banks, governments, NGOs, and lenders evaluate and finance tourism projects based on such data.

To attract these movers and shakers, the country's brand manager must constantly monitor the global economy as well as the economies of the nation's main partners. Everything, from monetary policy to regulatory and fiscal developments affect purchasing and investment decisions.

So the next time you think of branding, take a step back and realize that everyone does it and needs to do it to stay "in business", including who countries.

Good Luck and More Successful Branding
Tuxedo Branding Blog Administrator