The concept of marketing is simple; you create a process by which you anticipate, identify and satisfy consumer demand profitably. However, if a marketing strategy is not planned and executed strategically, it can by costly and ineffective. Creative skill and time are two of the main resources most companies who have recently formed are in short supply of, and yet in many situations, they are the two main requirements of a successful marketing strategy .In this post we will look at the importance of developing a coherent and consistent brand identity and the design process.
Regardless of whether you are in the process of devising a simple logo design or an entire suite of corporate communication. Having a creative and coherent brand concept is vital right from the point of company formation, as when the business is operating it will act as a creative representation of your company.
A company’s brand will represent the company for years to come and -as many established brands will testify – completely re branding a company is expensive, time consuming and potentially damaging. Therefore, it is worth investing the time and finance into getting it right from the point of company formation.
Most small business owners do not have sufficient design skills in house and as a result seek outside help. While outsourcing the design process to an external agency or freelancer may seem complex, the whole process is made a lot simpler by understanding the various stages between establishing an approved brand concept to its execution.
Step 1: Developing a Brand Concept
These images will normally be the result of a meeting with a business owner, in which they described their concept of the brand and how they want it to be visually interpreted.

Historically, these initial images we manually drawn; now it is much more common for designer to give you graphically designed logos.
Step 2: Approved Designs
At this stage of the process, there will usually have been a considerable amount of re-design and amendments before the concepts have been approved
Step 3: Artist

At this stage, the agreed designs are sent to a painter who will give you a physical representation of exactly how the printed design will look. This is the final point when any amendments can be made

Step 4: Printing Stage One
The approved artwork is sent to a professional printer. A set of proofs will be printed to ensure you are happy with the whole design.
 Step 5: Final Print
The approved proofs will now be printed on a large scale and sent to you.

Depending on the type of entrepreneur you are, you will have an established strategy in your mind on how you would deal with a corporate dispute within your organisation. Even if your company’s management structure is robust, as you business evolves there is always the possibility when you put a group of strong willed business people in a room together, to discuss the future of a business they are passionate about, that some element of dispute will emerge. While these disputes can be conducive to better performance going forward, on some occasions they can result in mass destabilisation. Today, we look at the far reaching impact a board dispute had on the Law Firm Wallace & Kingsley. In tomorrow’s post we will give you some guidance on how to avoid such disputes and what to do if they do occur.  
In the case of Wallace & Kingsley, a simple disagreement over a HR issue, resulted in such friction at a board level that it culminated in resignation,and eventually, legal proceedings were filed. Founder Richard Wallace states “With the benefit of hindsight I can now see the crucial mistakes we made; board members spent very little time developing good working relationships with each other. Therefore, when a minor dispute occurred, directors found it difficult to communicate with each other and the result was a completely destabilised board.”
“This dispute spiralled out of control and had such far reaching consequences that our company has only just recovered” comments Wallace. “I am convinced this has hindered our business’ progress. Not only did I have to switch my concentration from expanding this company to dealing with the fall out, it damaged our brand from the point of view of existing clients and relationships I am convinced would have progressed were lost, due to the fact we could not present a united front.”
 In tomorrow’s post we give you an action plan of what to do when a dispute looks like it could result in a fragmented board or disaffected partner.

In yesterday’s post we concluded that, regardless of the sort of entrepreneur you are, or you motivation to begin the company formation process – be it to sell the company or form a company you can run for the rest of your life – building brand values is core to future success. Today, we will provide with four key areas of your company to focus on when creating brand values.

Leadership

Even if your company has a horizontal management structure, and decision making is very much a democratic process, it is impossible for the identity a company to come from anywhere else apart from the original founders. The company you formed has the identity it does at this moment, due to the fact you started the company formation process with a clear idea of the brand what you wanted it to be. Therefore, from the point of formation, growth and maturity it is crucial you articulate your concept of what your brand currently is and what you want it to be in the future.

 Management

Creating a robust management team and infrastructure is one of the key ways of creating strong brand values in your company. Especially if one of your main objectives is to eventually sell the company. Having an effective and established management team, will assure potential buyers that there are people who had an integral role in the success of the company still there and capable of moving the company forward.  Steven Hudson, founder of Hudson Electronics, says “When I first formed the company, I was in a position where I couldn’t go on holiday, because the day to day operations of the business could not function without me. Now that we have established a strong management team, the company can run without me and I wouldn’t have it any other way – indeed, if we weren’t in this situation I think it would undermine the brand I have created.”

Sector and Market Conditions

Regardless of how you choose to establish brand value in your company, your business will be more ‘valuable’ if it operates within a growing sector. You must have a comprehensive grasp on where you stand in the market place. Knowing your market share, market, and brand’s position within it ,is vital.   

Accounts

Building value in your brand, is about focusing on the things you would expect; customers, market and marketing. However, it is also based on how your run your business. Your brand is likely to be deemed more valuable if your have a proof of previous profits and established streams of revenue.