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Thoughts and ideas from Ethridge & Associates
Key essentials for achieving strategic branding that works
September 10, 2019 at 12:00 AM
by Ethridge & Associates
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Is your business's branding suffering? Although you may be trying to carve out a brand image, sometimes it can feel as though your results are all over the place. Fortunately, this isn't a situation that's beyond repair. At Ethridge Associates LLC, our marketing consultants in Memphis specialize in strategic branding. To get you started, we're going to provide you with some tips for creating strategic branding techniques that work.

Highlight your life-changing purpose

Take a step back from your business and consider what it is that you aim to do each day. At first, your answer may seem obvious. However, if that answer is so bland that it doesn't set you apart from your competitors, you're not going far enough.

For example, let's say you're a travel agent who sells vacations abroad. Your purpose can't just be to sell trips, because that's what every travel agent wants to do. Instead, you could shape your purpose so that it involves selling vacations so that families can create lasting memories.

At Ethridge Associates, we have a strong history of helping businesses define their purpose during their strategic branding efforts. We often achieve this through our Life Quests seminars, which help business professionals discover their passions and motivations. In discovering what drives your business motivations, you can identify what your purpose is and make it clear in your branding.

Zero in on your brand's consistency

The cornerstone of strategic branding is consistency. When you consistently deliver a message and use the same imagery, your customers and clients will develop a sense of trust in your business. In contrast, diving between different messages and imagery may leave them feeling confused. Additionally, it will prevent them from being able to recognize your brand.

At Ethridge Associates LLC, we help our clients achieve branding consistency by focusing on what matters to them and their customers most. One way we can achieve this is by measuring their customers' responses to different branding tactics. When we find something that works, we direct our clients to focus on it.

A great example of when we achieved this was when we helped the Army National Reserve overcome its recruitment slump. By focusing their branding on a consistent message, we inspired faith in potential recruits and watched them jump from being 24% behind their recruitment target to achieving 100%.

Generate emotion and create a sense of community

As humans, we're emotional creatures. If all our decisions were driven by rationality, a lot of businesses wouldn't exist. Many of us like to feel connected with each other and a larger purpose. At Ethridge Associates LLC, this is something we like to use to our advantage when focusing on strategic branding.

By finding a way to connect with your customers on a deeper and more emotional level, you're more likely to develop a continued trust in your brand. Those customers that you manage to connect with are more likely to become repeat purchasers. A reliable way to achieve this is to highlight how you will make their life easier. Or, you can try to make them feel as though they're part of one big family.

One example of when we achieved this was when we worked with the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development. By creating a campaign that resonated with their target audience, we drew in more business from those who were visiting the State of Tennessee. No matter what your business is, we're confident we can achieve the same for you too.

At Ethridge Associates LLC, our successful approach to strategic branding routinely delights our clients. If you own a business in Memphis and you need our help, call 901 331 7026.