Article of Interest - e-Marketing
Do you know how to brand your business?
Six ways to establish your corporate identity.
Quicken Learning Center - by Karen Cheney - February 28, 2002
You may not have given much thought to recent news about the demise of
mega-retailer Kmart (KM).
After all, what does the downfall of a corporate giant have to do with the likes
of small business owners like yourself? The Blue Light specials got underpriced
by Wal-Mart (WMT)
and over-classed by Target (TGT)
-- simple as that.
Take a closer look, however, and you'll see that Kmart has a lesson for companies of all sizes: Building business identity is a continuing effort. That's an especially important point for small business owners. "Small companies often try to be all things to all people," says Ray Silverstein, president of PRO (President's Resource Organization), which creates advisory boards for small business owners. The result: Failing in creating a niche for themselves, these businesses end up in generic oblivion.
To keep your strategy focused, you need to re-evaluate your identity periodically -- ideally once a year. New competition and changes in technology and economic conditions, for example, may require you to sharpen or alter the way you do business. Remember: Businesses must evolve, just like people.
Here are six ways to make the process go as smoothly as possible:
Do some soul-searching
Sure, it sounds like a hokey New Age exercise. But you can't establish your business identity without asking these questions:
· How do I want to be perceived?
· Am I where I want to be?
· Am I still in the right niche and serving the right market?
· How do I differentiate myself today and in the future?
By answering these questions, you'll not only ensure your company's survival, you'll turn it into the kind of business you always wanted to run. Isn't that why you work for yourself in the first place?
Define your market
Your business should serve a certain slice of the market, not all of it. "When you talk about differentiation, you have to give up some of the market," says PRO's Silverstein. Kmart tried to have it all. Was it the purveyor of tasteful home items for Martha Stewart wannabes or, as the return of its Blue Light promotions indicated, a mecca for bargain shoppers? Its marketing strategy was all over the place, according to Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of Business.
Drop the undesirables
Particularly important for a small business is its customers. Besides marketing efforts and your own personal reputation, they say the most about you and your company. If you are a consultant and work mainly for medium-size companies in the auto industry, you will become known as an expert in that area alone. That's all right, as long as the auto industry is healthy and growing. But you may want to expand to new areas and to do so, you may have to let go of one or two of your less profitable customers.
Go after a re-defining project
Since customers define you, the best way to reshape your identity is to go after a new client. If you're an architect, painter or carpenter, you may want to move from smaller residential projects to larger commercial jobs. A consultant may want to tap the non-profit world. A retail shop owner may want to court a more upscale customer by introducing a new product line. Potential customers will perceive you differently depending on who is doing business with you today.
Stay the course
A consistent message -- in your marketing materials, your way of doing business and your client roster -- drives home the message of who you are. Consistency also equals comfort. If customers know they can count on you, your product or service becomes a valued source of stability. That's something you can't put a price on these days.
Columnist Karen Cheney is a veteran financial and business reporter who has written extensively for many national magazines, including Money and Business Week, and is co-author of the book, How to Start a Successful Home Business. She invites your questions and input on topics you'd like to see covered in future columns. E-mail her at editors@quicken.com.
