Great Resource on Branding

At the Getting Attention blog, nonprofit marketing expert Nancy E. Schwartz offers a link to a nine-page primer on nonprofit branding. Some highlights:

What is branding?

* Branding is the art of creating a consistent, recognizable and clear, unified voice or personality that conveys your organization’s uniqueness, focus and values.

* A brand is more than a logo, packaging or design.

* A brand constitutes the essence and values of an organization’s work, product or service. The organization’s image and brand equity are developed by how its personality is perceived.

* A brand is the sum total of key ideas, emotions, physical attributes and perceptions that are communicated to your stakeholders (actually, think base and partners — donors, volunteers, members, the media, clients and more), and associated with your organization’s work.

* A brand can help your organization bridge changes over time (e.g., changes in services offered) as it keeps audiences plugged into more enduring values and benefits.

* A brand is the shorthand for the identifying characteristics an audience retains and recalls when they think about the experience provided by your organization and its products or services. It is your organization’s commitment to deliver products (goods, services or programs) that are consistent with the brand positioning. This is the brand promise.

A successful branding strategy:

* Defines the core identity of the brand.

* Positions the brand in the most meaningful and profitable space.

* Communicates the value and unique selling proposition of the brand.

* Measures brand performance and identifies criteria for continuous improvement.

Branding determines:

* How your services and products are differentiated from competitors.

* How your organization promises to deliver quality and consistency.

* How your organization interacts with its public at every point of contact.

* How your organization builds brand equity and generates brand value.

* Your organization’s voice.

To read Schwartz’s useful primer in full, click here.