“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” — Fredrich Nietzche
Authentic Brand Strategy That Works
What if instead of marketing for the greatest visibility and attention, we market to express ourselves authentically? What if we turn marketing upside down and instead of attempting to reach the greatest number of people, we seek to connect with people who share similar values? And, what if instead of relying on persuasion, we seek a kind of sincerity that expresses what is truly unique about us?
We all tend to feel the push to follow the proven and popular methods of marketing. We may hire copywriters to craft clever language and graphic designers to create beautiful and bold graphics. We may advertise, do social media or give free webinars. We may network with our elevator speech that sounds really great, passing our business cards along and meeting for lunch.
For many, these methods work perfectly well. For some, there is something about this approach that doesn’t feel quite right. It’s not the methods themselves, but rather the way we go about it.
If you are among those who feel there is something missing or lacking in your marketing and you can’t quite put your finger on it, the rest of this page is for you. Even if your present marketing is effective, we hope you too will continue reading, as we believe there is something important and timely in the approach of authentic marketing.
Every Company Is Unique
The voice of a brand speaks to what a company stands for, what its values are, and what is truly unique about it. At the same time, every company is unique in some ways, without exception. They’re unique because every company is a personal and collective expression of the founders, the team and the culture.
The End Of Mass
Seth Godin has written extensively about “the end of mass,” meaning the end of the era of mass marketing. And the reason he gives is that the incredible variety of options available to us through the Internet and globalization means that we are no longer seeking products designed for the masses, but rather we seek those products and services that speak to what we believe in.
Why People Buy
If all we do is convey WHAT we do, no matter how clever the language or appeal, we’re just a commodity-based product or service, competing based on price and features.
On the other hand, if we convey our WHY, our purpose and reason for being, we connect with our audience in a deeper and more compelling way.
Leading from a place of purpose is also what drives culture, and as the research tells us, the deeper a company’s culture, the more innovative it becomes.
When I decided to re-brand my company I sought out the help of a branding expert. I was lucky enough to find Balanced Is. Their philosophy of building on the culture within the business and their approachable demeanor has made the often stressful re-branding process an exciting and enjoyable journey. Thank you Balanced Is.
Purpose Building
Our WHY is that we believe we can build thriving businesses and create positive change by doing business to do good. To serve our WHY we support Changemakers on their evolving journey, as they launch, build and grow businesses with a paradigm of vision and empathy. We help our clients connect more fully with their authentic WHY and develop more compelling and powerful brands.
Catalyzing Growth Through Authentic Branding
Through dialog and process, with empathy and intuition, we co-create your unique narrative, tone and values. Beginning with a unique narrative, tone and values, we work with our clients to develop a visual landscape that captures the essence of their brand.
Using power colors and flashy graphics to capture attention can be effective in some cases, but not when it’s at the expense of a brand’s tone and personality. Aligning the tone of a brand throughout all of its marketing has the power to catalyze engagement, and from engagement comes growth.
Integrating the unique personality of a brand into the visual landscape requires empathy, intuition and feeling—together with experience and creativity. In this way we co-create with our clients authentic branding that truly connects.
Steps To Creating An Authentic Brand
- Define and craft the brand voice, positioning and strategy
- Refine or re-do the logo, color scheme and visuals in such a way that visually conveys the tone and values identified in step one
- Carry the unique voice, tone and values throughout all marketing communications
- Integrate your unique values into the way you build and lead your team
By Living The Brand We Build Strong Culture
Carrying the brand through all communications and integrating it into the culture is equally as important as creating the brand. That’s because it is through the complete integration of values and tone that our products and services become authentic representations of what we’re truly about.
An authentic and compelling brand not only gives customers a chance to connect more viscerally with your company, but employees as well. Authentic branding is a powerful jumping off point for engaging employees more deeply with your mission and vision. When it’s authentic, people get behind it because they know what you stand for.
Corporate trainers are great. Developing core values and mission statements are important. Beginning your culture work by living your brand makes it more effective and meaningful.
This is also how we become more innovative.
We attended a branding workshop that Glenn with Balanced Is conducted. It was filled with an abundance of helpful tips and strategies. We left feeling like we received great value and wanted more. We hired Balanced Is to coach us and together we built a new brand for a company that blended the work of two trainers who choose to join forces to address Cultural Intelligence. The Balanced Is process challenged us to be clear and thoughtful, which helped us to create a brand that is bold, authentic and definitive. We are grateful.
Working with Balanced Is has been amazing for me and my business. Before we worked together my business was this mysterious entity that I didn’t truly know, even though I created it! Together we were able to create and develop a brand or personality…that shows through in all of our marketing, our daily operations, and how we interact with our clients. We’ve transformed from just being a business that sells a service, to a community that provides for our clients as they provide for us. I highly recommend working with Balanced Is at the start of, during, and throughout your business planning and development.
We’re Flexible
Brand strategy and brand building is a fluid process. We have a process, and we are also flexible to each client’s unique situation and needs. We begin with assessment and the crafting of tone, values and positioning. From there we can go in many directions and we’re happy to shift directions when the need arises.
What You Can Expect
Brand crafting and building with Balanced Is can look like one or more of the following,
- Define your unique WHY: Who are you and what are you about
- Positioning: How are you different and how to convey that in a compelling way
- Strategy: Identify and design the most effective ways of connecting with your audience
- Culture: By living the brand we build strong culture
- Integration: How to infuse your new language into all your communication channels
- Business Naming: Brainstorming, research and co-creation
- Logo Design: Crafted to reflect your unique tone and values
- Content: Develop compelling narrative that connects with your intended audience
- Blogging/Photography/Video/Web: Carrying the message through the mediums
Contact Us Today
We look forward to co-creating with you and empowering your purpose-filled success.
P.S. You have nothing to lose by reaching out to us to explore how we can accelerate your vision. We’re happy to just sit and have an initial conversation to explore how we can help you.
Working with Glenn on the branding values of our company gave us a deeper understanding of WHY we do what we do. It’s extremely important insight that then feeds every business decision moving forward from brand aesthetics to who we partner with to what projects we’re investing in. This work is essential for building a solid foundation for our future growth.
Glenn with Balanced Is is gifted with so much vision that he inspires great creativity in the process of ferreting out other people’s visions. I thought I understood what I was about, and why. Through working with Balanced Is on branding, I discovered that my business is so much BIGGER than I’d known, and that I am bigger than I’d realized. (I mean bigger in the sense of bigger vision and mission; not in the sense of needing to diet!) I find myself working now with a brighter glow, knowing I can show who I am and what I most care about, and in doing so have a big impact. Thank you, Balanced Is; our work together was very rich.