What is a brand?
"Any visible sign or device used by a business enterprise to identify its goods and distinguish them from those made or carried by others" - Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Your brand is the package which represents your organisation and differentiates it from other charities.
- A brand should make your charity's message clear to supporters and potential backers.
In a society fixated with image, branding is big business. A fittingly-conceived and well-executed brand is essential to an organisation's survival.
Creating a successful brand
A brand is more than just a logo or an image. It provides a first impression of your organisation and shapes the way in which the public perceives your work. The charities and voluntary organisations whose brands are most profitable are those that successfully emulate and are comparable to corporate packages. A clearly articulated brand should thus present to backers an unambiguous image of your organisation's competency and professionalism. Developing and establishing a strong brand, moreover, will increase the likelihood that potential backers will choose to support your organisation over a lesser known and less well-marketed charity.
- A brand should clearly express your charity's vision and values.
- Ensure that the brand appeals to your target audience.
- A recognised good brand is a result of consistent messages, steadfast marketing efforts, good experiences and positively reinforced images emanating from your organisation over time.
- Potential donors will probably interact with your brand before they meet the human face of your organisation. A brand should make explicit your charity's needs and objectives while immediately conveying to backers what it is you desire from them. It should also inform those who might benefit from your services exactly what your organisation offers.
- A brand must permeate internal and external communications. Make sure that the language and attitude of your staff reflects the charity's brand and objectives. Your brand should also feature on all materials issued by the organisation.
- Be prepared to reassess and if necessary restate your brand.
Your organisation and its brand
Before presenting your brand to the market ensure that the charity can live up to its promises. Delivering on your assurances will encourage people to trust your organisation. Failure to live up to expectations, on the other hand, could do irreparable damage to your charity's reputation and support. You should, therefore, take steps to ensure that your charity's brand is consistent with your goals.
- Be clear about what your organisation represents and what you hope to achieve
- Talk to your stakeholders and investigate whether their expectations are in line with what your organisation is doing
- Investigate how you compare with your competitors
- Look at who supports your brand and why
- Ask what it is that beneficiaries gain from your service
Why rebrand?
If you decide to rebrand, be sure of what the process entails and of the benefits you envisage your organisation will accrue.
- Revamping your brand can reinvigorate the organisation, expose it to new markets and increase financial contributions to your charity.
- The image of a long-standing organisation might appear tired and outmoded. Distinctive images and styles are closely associated with the era of their conception thus a timely repositioning has the potential rejuvenate your organisation's image.
- Certain words or images might have a negative impact upon the success and marketability of your organisation. Adopting a brand that is consumer friendly and which encapsulates your message can significantly transform your organisation's performance and appeal.
The costs
For charities functioning on limited budgets, employing a branding consultant can be an extremely expensive, perhaps infeasible, exercise. The budgets of many charities will not stretch to covering the costs of a full-scale, professional branding exercise. Options do exist, however, for your organisation to develop a good brand.
- Investigate which businesses are willing to offer their services to charities on a pro-bono basis.
- Concentrate on presenting a strong image in your defined market. Be aware of how global, media-led brands perform, and where possible seek to emulate their success.
Potential pitfalls of slick branding
Good branding can make a significant difference to the financial health and public awareness of your charity. Nevertheless, some problems may arise. Charges of extravagance, for example, could seriously undermine your brand's value if a donor disputes the value of paying the costs of a branding exercise with funds they believe would better be spent on fulfilling your charity's brief.
- Be careful to ensure that your organisation justifies its expenditure.
- If you are convinced that a wholesale revamp of your brand will enhance your organisation's performance, regard the project as an investment. Present evidence of likely advantages to your organisation and its backers in defence of your proposal.
Ensuring the continued success of your brand
Measure the performance and perceptions of your brand through brand valuation surveys.
- Gauge the responsiveness of existing, new and potential donors.
- Assess the reactions of your employees and beneficiaries.
- Ensure maximum impact for your organisation's brand by monitoring and responding to your audience's changing needs.
- Remember that branding and advertising, especially when they are well-executed, stay in a person's mind. Be consistent and persistent in your publicity and in the messages you project.