To truly connect with customers, create a brand that's based on substance, not semblance.

By: MATT ALDERTON

When folks in Rockville, Md., need to organize their lives, one name often comes to mind: Clutterbusters. That's because the company has worked hard to be unforgettable, says Betsy Fein, president of the Maryland-based organizing franchise. She attributes the company's success in large part to its creative name, its recognizable logo and its catchy tagline, which reads, "We ain't afraid of no mess!"

"We always hear how clients love our name, logo and tagline," Fein says, "and they call us because of it." Everything about Clutterbusters—its logo, its colors, its employees' uniforms—is consistent, designed to be bright, fun and, of course, memorable.

That's just the beginning, though, according to branding expert Barbara Findlay Schenck, author of Branding for Dummies. "The logo, the name, the advertisements, the communications—those are the face of the brand," she says. "But to be a great brand, the face has to sit squarely on a base that's formed by the brand's culture, mission, vision, values and organization."

More Than Make-up

Sure, Schenck admits, branding is part cosmetic—a name, a logo, and a slogan on your business cards—but more than that, it's a promise that your customers believe in. "If you can't make and keep a promise," she says, "then all the marketing and advertising materials in the world won't work." Whether you promise your customers the world's fastest service, the country's most innovative products or your town's most convenient location, you must seize upon your promise and deliver it.

Harvey Hoffenberg, president of Propulsion, a New Canaan, Conn.-based branding consultancy, agrees. "Branding is not about putting your name or brand on a golf ball or T-shirt," he says. "It's about building your connection with your customer. It takes knowing the fundamentals of your company's DNA."

When you know your DNA, you'll discover all the benefits of top-notch branding, including premium pricing, customer loyalty, lower employee turnover and higher status in the marketplace.

If you don't yet know yours, Schenck suggests borrowing the DNA of other successful brands. "When you're at stop signs or coffee shops, look around at the logos people are wearing or putting in their car windows," she says. You'll see brands like Apple, which promises to think differently; Starbucks, which promises to the be world's local coffee shop; and Federal Express, which promises to deliver your packages overnight—and always does. "You can have the best name or logo, the most awesome brand launch, brand materials that win all the contests, yet your brand will suffer if you can't live up to its promise."

Know Thy Customer

Kevin Kearns, a small business branding coach in Woodland Park, Colo., suggests that businesses build their brand promises around whatever makes them most different in the marketplace. "I describe branding to new business owners as owning a word or concept in the mind of the customer," he says.

Most consumers tend to promise the best service or the lowest price, but that's not enough, according to Kearns, because everybody makes those promises. Instead, he suggests promising to fill a specific void for a niche group of consumers. "The biggest [branding] mistake small business owners make is trying to be all things to all people," he says.

"The most important thing to do is to know your customer," Schenck adds. "Find out who you're selling to." When you do, she says, making a brand promise—and delivering it via advertising, sales presentations, invoices, service counters, phone conversations and even e-mail correspondence—is easy.

Tell Your Story

The key to successful branding, according to Vickie Sullivan, president of Tempe, Ariz.-based Sullivan Speaker Services, is storytelling. "Stories are important because they provide emotional context to facts," she says. After all, a picture may be worth 1,000 words—but so are 1,000 words.

Sullivan suggests companies tell their stories—who they are and how they came to be—whenever possible, via their Web site, in interviews with local press and even in casual conversations with customers. Telling your story, she suggests, is a natural, organic way to build your brand. "Everyone wants to know the background of the [business] owner, and what they base their point of view on," she says. "It's the business version of 'Where are you from?' It provides clarity about who the principals are, and how they approach their work and the marketplace."

Stories can accomplish many branding objectives; they can explain your brand promise, for instance, highlight your position within your industry and earn you customers' trust. Mostly, though, they make your brand authentic.

Above All Else, Be Consistent

More than attracting customers, brand managers should focus on wooing them into long-term relationships. "Great brands aren't just known and trusted," Schenck says. "They're loved."

The easiest way to make customers fall in love with you is to walk your talk. "Great branders realize that the brand is either made or broken not by what you say, but by what you do," Schenck says.

What you do, she adds, doesn't have to be expensive. It should, however, be consistent.

"The magic ingredient is consistency," Schenck says. "If a business knows what it stands for and delivers messages and experiences that consistently reinforce how the business is different and more relevant than all competing options, it will succeed in developing consumer knowledge and, eventually, esteem. As a result of this consistency, it will win out over businesses that shift with the wind, regardless of how beautifully they've polished their identities or their marketing materials."

In other words, consistency breeds trust—and building trust is what branding's really all about.