Why Your Brand Is The Key To Your Business
Posted on Sun 22nd Nov 2015 at 15:40
Let’s say you have to clean the floor. What do you use? One correct answer would be a vacuum cleaner, but it’s very likely that you thought ‘Hoover’ instead, despite the fact that this is a brand and not a generic object. When a company is so successful that its name becomes synonymous with a product, it’s an incredibly successful brand.
We’ve all undoubtedly read hundreds of blogs about building a brand, but unless one simple fact stays at the top of your mind, all your reading might be in vain. In essence, if you don’t have a strong brand, you don’t have a business. As Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder, stated: “your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”.
To be successful, therefore, you should ensure that not only are people talking about you, but that they are saying the right thing! To do this, it’s not enough anymore just to have good just advertising and public relations, you need to ensure your company’s values and business ethics are always at the standard you want them to be. You can only control the way people talk about you if you’re consistently performing in a way that makes you proud.
Signature Car Hire has grown to be recognised as the UK’s leading luxury prestige and performance car hire brand and so a few years ago I organised a revamp of all our brand materials to cement our market-leading position. It was a very interesting exercise because, as well as introducing stronger graphics, the process meant that I had to personally sit down and once again write out what Signature should stand for.
Although the company had grown, I found that the things I instinctively wrote down were the ones that had been driving me all along:
- Achieving Excellence – Both with our products and service
- Customer Satisfaction – To always exceed customer’s expectations
- A Personal Service – Respect our clients as individuals
- Attention to detail - At every level
- A Desire to share my passions
It was very rewarding to realise that the values that had driven me to succeed were the same ones that made clients appreciate our service and return time after time. It would be easy to just buy a lot of luxury cars and rent them out, but Signature is all about creating an unforgettable experience – and to do that you need to create every second of a customers' journey with you. The reason for Signature’s name and logo is that we’re confident that every facet of our business is in keeping with our ethos of only providing the best, and we sign to that effect. It’s this willingness to put our reputation behind each and every service we offer that makes us so popular with clients: Signature is a distinct, unique and high personal ‘sign off’ indicating your considered approval.
Customers have come to know that the Signature logo represents excellence, and that they are assured an unsurpassed level of commitment, quality and service whenever they see it. Part of our success comes from our knowledge that we always have more to learn, which is why all customer feedback is valued – whatever the comments.
Given my experience, I’d recommend that any CEO trying to define a brand looks deep inside to determine the qualities that will shape their future success. There’s no point coming up with a set of sexy-looking brand values if, at heart, you don’t believe in them. I can attest to the fact that there’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning and knowing your business, built on your personal passion and dedication, is waiting to lead you through another memorable day. I’m hugely proud of the Signature brand, which has now grown from luxury car hire to encompass chauffeuring, wedding car hire, concierge service, wine importer and distributor to name a few, all with the same dedication to detail and quality that shaped our brand reputation in the first place. I wouldn’t put my name to anything less.