Your brand is your business

When a business is started, the owner often spends a lot of time thinking about what that functional business will be. They deliberate over how the supply chain will work, plan out their customer service schematic and ensure manufacturing efficiencies are optimized. But, frequently, the value of the brand in business design is neglected. It's tossed aside as a matter of iconography or turns of phase, thrown into the bucket of "advertising expense," and given low priority.

Then off that person goes to market, using CRM tools and PR strategies and cold calls and marketing vehicles. They pitch and sell and highfive. And yet what are their customers buying? Why do they choose that company's products and services over another's or vice versa?

There is no business model that can't be replicated, no intellectual property so unique its conclusions cannot be uncovered elsewhere, and no idea so special it couldn't equivalently float in a competitor's ether. We, as business owners, face a commodity conundrum. So how do you deal with that?

Here's the thing: Your brand is your business and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool. Brand loyalty is vital to sustainability in the face of competition and commodification. Loyalty comes through relationships and relationships are built through emotional connections. Emotional connections aren't a result of pretty logos or clever copy — they're a result of interactions that are a result of content.

Recently, my company worked with an incredible startup called Rent Frock Repeat (rentfrockrepeat.com). Lisa Delorme and Kristy Wieber, its founders, came to us last year to launch an online designer dress rental operation, and they'd thought their business model inside out. They were incredibly sharp and ready to hit the market with a bang.

They were also clever enough to look beyond today, even though they have a unique market offering. They realized that to face a competitive space that would in time pop out replicators, they needed to have a rock-solid brand strategy that allowed the business to connect with its customers in an authentic, clearly directed and value-oriented way. And it needed to be something that would live through every interaction across every interaction point, taking them through the launch well into the future.

Building a brand is like building any other asset — it requires careful thought, planning, and, yes, investment. As with any other asset, the intent isn't to throw more costs against the bottom line — it's to build something that will enable your business to face a competitive marketplace stronger and more powerful than without it.

So what does your brand mean to you, your customers, your prospects and your partners?

- Jacquelyn Cyr is chief executive of Espresso (brandinfiltration.com) and has never met a business she didn't like. Please send questions, along with feedback or insights to gamechanger@brandinfiltration.com