Like many people I am sceptical about brand names. To my mind, the associations are with big corporations that use brand names as a substitute for personal, reliable service.
Of course, there is no reason local personal service has to be more reliable than established brands. A large corporation can afford to employ staff to handle complaints. A small local business may lack capacity to handle complaints.
I recently had a dispute with an established company. They made a mistake by ignoring my instructions; instructions they had requested. I complained and they offered to pay to recover from their mistake. I engaged a local service to attempt to set things right and the established company paid up promptly to cover the costs. As it happened the recovery process simply demonstrated their error was not recoverable but they did not haggle over the payment.
They could afford to be generous once they established they were at fault. They misinformed me from the start. In the shop, they told me I had a choice but their servicing department did not in fact respond to customer instructions. They need to decide whether they respond to customer instructions and if they do not make sure their workers understand their policy. They believe they misinformed me in the shop, whilst my view is what they said in the shop made sense and they need to review their policy.
You will note I have not mentioned the brand. Suffice it to say it is well-known and as their response to my complaint was positive I’m not going to denounce them, even though I do not agree with their policy. Their brand name is valuable to them and they ultimately act to protect it and the £200 they spent helping me recover from their error was presumably worth it. If I ever recommend their services to anyone I will also suggest they take certain precautions.
Brand Names and Local Businesses
So, does branding have any relevance to local businesses? Here are a few thoughts.
- Local businesses often compete with established brands. So, it is worth asking what a business offers that established brands do not or cannot offer.
- A local brand can be associated with personal services that cannot be obtained through the big brands.
- And the name of the local business can serve as a brand name, even if it is not the business owner’s intention .
The corporations view brand names as their intellectual property. Brand names can be bought and sold. The biggest companies may own many brand names and if a local business is especially successful it might sell its name to a bigger company.
I use two terms that might in time become brand names. “Community Web Consultant” and “Community Development Online”. It is also possible my name might become associated with my services and so become a brand name. It is hard to see how I can decide if or when any of these will happen. The best I can do is recognise when it is happening.
Between them my two potential brand names convey something of what I offer, although not the entire story. I use a niche statement on my site for a clearer explanation of what I offer.
It is difficult to see how someone can know what to expect from my services solely from my brand names. Established brands might have names that do not give anything away about their products. Most people have an idea what Kelloggs or Adidas sell, even though these brand names do not give anything away!
My brand names will most likely be close enough to my activities in the foreseeable future. If I wake up one morning with a new idea that’s completely different to what I’m doing now, then I’m likely to find a new brand name!
Overall I’m not convinced brand names are all that important for small enterprises. They need to be used in the context of an overall marketing campaign.
Examples from the Voluntary Sector
Voluntary sector organisations have brand names; they are not restricted to commercial concerns. A good name is a valuable asset for many large charities, for example. Many actually seek better branding by changing their names, for example the Council for Voluntary Services changed its name to Voluntary Action a couple of decades ago. The new name is easier to remember and so the change was probably worth any loss of recognition at the time of the change.
One final example is a well-established local voluntary sector organisation, based in Sheffield although its reach is global. Its name is its brand and those who know it generally hold the organisation in great affection. Its name is a very positive asset.
However its marketing is very poor, it lacks an effective marketing strategy and uses old technologies, poorly executed. I am confident that when it closes, as it will if it continues on its current course, its name will still be held in great affection.
Brand names can be helpful as a part of a marketing strategy but on their own they are not the be all and end all of marketing.
This is part of a sequence building upon the circuit questionnaire, the element about branding.