Top 5 mistakes businesses make with their brand

Avoid these and you will significantly increase your chances of success!

Today, you cannot afford to look like a small company because of the simple fact that the world has shrunk. Most companies are no longer just competing locally. Customers and clients are looking to the next town, the next big city, the company from Chicago on the web or even the company from China or India. It’s not that most clients will mind if you are small but they will be harder to attract or keep if you act as if you are small.

Here are five mistakes we see all the time at NEBS when dealing with our 200,000 Canadian customers who place over 300,000 unique personalized (branded) orders with us each year.

Printing key documents on blank white paper with a laser or inkjet printer
This is the biggest mistake we see: printing an important quote, invoice or proposal on blank white paper from your black and white laser or inkjet printer. Pre-printed forms that feature your logo in colour help to reinforce your branding and get across your message to customers.

Letting an amateur design their logo
The second most common mistake is to let an amateur design your logo. Logo design is no place for employees, family or friends who like to "dabble". They might be creative but they don’t know how to create a brand that will work in all media (web, print, signs, etc.). They haven’t studied what colour will work to suit your business and they don’t know about developing a unique positioning statement.

Being inconsistent with their brand
This usually goes with having an amateur design the logo. Professionals know that you must have brand rules and total consistency to make sure you look and sound the same every time you come in contact with your customer.

Trying to make their brand stand for too many things
Spend your time focusing on one, clear message (like Volvo owns "safety" in the car industry). This doesn’t mean you won’t have other offers and features but smart companies know that owning one key position and becoming "famous" in your market for that position is the only clear path to success.

Not having a real brand or position
You would be shocked to learn that as many as 50% of all small and medium sized businesses in Canada do not have a real brand logo or position. They might have "stylized" text which only they recognize or they might have some initials arranged. But they have no brand or position and are likely to be one of the 4 out of 5 businesses that do not survive to their 10th anniversary (Stats Canada).

Why do Canadian firms go out of business?

Survival rate of new business in Canada: Four out of five businesses do not survive to their 10th anniversary.

Be Better Than Half Of All Your Competitors

Over half of the businesses in Canada do not have a positioning or branding strategy. Those who do are significantly more likely to survive. NEBS is keenly interested in the success of businesses in Canada and believes it is vital to the strength of our economy.

Avoid these most common mistakes and be better than half of all your competitors.

###