Sorry, small business owners, but its time to think about Brand, again.

Thinking about Brand is really thinking about yourself--which is what most of us spend an awful lot of time doing, anyway, right? Your small business brand is the who of your company. The more intimately you can understand this who-ness, the better your chance of success in small business.

Dont let the title fool you into thinking The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al and Laura Ries is this is some marketing theory book youll never read. This is a quick read stuffed full of ideas you can implement to help your business better package its brand. In an earlier article we reviewed Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Youll see the Positioning philosophy threaded through this newer book, but there is enough fresh, practical material here that is worth a Chief Marketer or small business owner to look at.

There are very practical, graphic arts tips in the book, dealing with items such as how to lay out a logo and what color scheme to use (Laws 16 & 17). These are helpful, but even more valuable to a companys long-term strategy is Law 12 that deals with verbal communication and naming your products or services.

Page 99 on the importance of verbal communication in a brand is particularly helpful. Many of these are ideas began in Positioning but expanded on here--very valuable for your business as you create or market new products as your company grows.

Also, on a related theme, their advice that you make sure you hilite your brand name over your company name is very important (Law 13).

On page 109 is a very simple question regarding what to name your brand. This one question is worth the price of the book. $12.89 is pretty cheap insurance to make sure your brand is properly named.

Then, make sure you spend time to understand page 155 and the Law of Consistency (Law 19). Ries and Ries state a great truth here, not one that is meant to discourage, but rather just a statement of fact: Brand building is boring work. What works best is absolute consistency over an extended period of time. This is one place where again, as a small business marketer, you can leverage an advantage over BigCorp. Throughout the organization you and your employees can reinforce and understand the brand. Plus, you can practice this kind of brand vigilance for years--even decades.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is definitely worth an inch on your marketing library shelf. (You do have one, dont you') It rests on ours.

Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success.

2006 Marketing Hawks