In case you’re not hip to the latest business acronyms and abbreviations, SMEs are small and medium sized enterprises. And as for “corporate identity,” what, exactly is that too? In its most basic definition, it is the overall image that a company holds in the minds of the public. Have you ever stopped to think how powerful a brand name can be? Sometimes the idea for a name is so brilliant that it actually can become synonymous with the product or service being sold. This, of course, also means that these brand names will first come to a consumer’s mind when he or she contemplates a certain product or service. Having a brilliant branding strategy is perhaps the most effective thing one can do to help increase awarenesss and drive sales. For SMEs, when often there are limited resources avalable for advertising or publicity efforts, this is where you can get the most bang for your buck.

The Chicken or the Egg Question

A good question to ponder is how the big brands became so big in the first place. Is it because their products are so incredibly better or higher in quality than competitors? To be honest, that probably has very little to do with it. The successful companies became that way because they knew how to market and sell with a unique and incomparable corporate identity & design. The reaping of the financial windfall afforded to companies that made substantial initial investments in corporate identity and design is telling.

Diving down further we will also see that there is no world brand with a bad website, an uninspired logo, a silly slogan or a lack-luster company color. All of these individual aspects exert a strong psychological effect on the viewer and leads to a more robust bottom line. And no, they mostly didn’t come up with these things after the fact, once they were successful. In most cases they invested right at the beginning in the creation of a good, strong CI (corporate identity) and it just got better and improved along the way.

CI, CD, Brand Philosophy, Identity…

Building corporate identity is not just about a fancy logo on a decent website but is a complex set of branding rules all pertaining to the right colors, fonts, slogans, designs, ads, and so much more. It is all masterfully designed to have a powerful and often visceral effect on viewer, catching and keeping his or her attention subconsciously and turning them not only into customers, but into FANS who celebrate the brand. These are the best ambassadors you can possibly imagine. (Think Apple or Nike for just two potent examples.)

When it comes to SME owners or small business operators, many tend to (erroneously) think of branding, if they think of it at all, as rather trivial and useless or simply just “nice to have.” They then tend to perceive it as something that is overly costly in terms of time and money. These kinds of thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth. If one’s objective in running a business is to grow and thrive, a smaller business owner would be wise to take branding far more seriously! One can utilize the old adage of “clothes make the man” as a suitable parallel. If you dress with an eye to style and a fashionable flair, people will take notice and perhaps even be drawn to you. I know the reception that I get when I walk into a bank dressed in full-on professional dress attire is worlds apart from the treatment I would receive if I were to stroll through an institution’s doors in a ripped t-shirt, baggy shorts and a pair of basketball shoes- The same applies to CI!

A truly professional CI doesn´t need to be expensive and a good, quality agency will always have starter packages for smaller budgets. At PUNKTLANDUNG we offer newly incorporated, SME-sized companies terrific and budget-friendly CI creation and development packages.

Be professionally branded right from the start or, if you are already established and wish to improve your bottom line, adjust now and make these all-important changes. “Suit up” now to catch up with the big players! We promise it will pay off in the long run.

About the Author:
Dennis Fink is a marketing strategist with 16 years of experience. He has worked extensively in the corporate world in Europe and is now bringing his expertise to Singapore, helping the finest brands to improve their marketing prowess with a myriad of innovative methodologies.