Creating a Brand

The other day when I took delivery of the special gift I created for some dear friends, I was struck by the little symbol that sat unassuming on the bottom backside of the simple packaging. It was a universally recognized reminder of the vendor responsible for creating my most recent masterpiece.

That was the inspiration behind today's article - branding. Everyone knows it when they see it and all businesses long to create one - Danico included.

Branding as defined by Investopedia.com is: the collective impact or lasting impression from all that is seen, heard, or experienced by customers who come into contact with a company and/or its products and services

Our clients may have noticed the purple "D" on our correspondence (we really hope that you did), is it as lasting of an impression? Maybe not yet...but we are working on it. Think about your brand, what does it stand for? Is it lasting in the minds of your customers - prospective, new and current? Admittedly, that last question is sometimes hard to quantify.

The reason is that it requires understanding the emotions felt and the thoughts or images that come to mind of individuals interacting with your brand. I don't know about you but I am not a psychic or mind reader. So how do you know?  Surveys and testimonials are a couple of tools to measure after the fact. Stating, repeating and living up to it are how, in my opinion, you establish your brand.

So why a lone "D" as our symbol? The simplest answer is that it is the first letter of our name, Danico Enterprises. The truer and much longer answer is this....

The capital D in Desilu font is a symbol of strength, determination and change. I may be dating myself here but the Desilu font is the one used in the title card for the I Love Lucy show with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. They created a show with a feisty red-head and Cuban immigrant that played on a national television station. Not only were they entertaining but they were also shrewd and creative business people.

Danico's mission is to develop creative solutions to the everyday problems of small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

With that explanation does the lone capital D in Desilu font now make sense?

When we work with clients to create or enhance their branding efforts, we start by getting to the heart of who they are and how they want to be remembered. The goal you may have gotten from the earlier definition, is to create a lasting impression.

Oh, and by the way, the little symbol that started all of this...a little grey apple with a bite taken out of it.

One last thing...

I was not the only one thinking about branding these last few days, take a look at a some articles that caught my eye.