Brand Challenge - Define Your Brand in One Sentence

Ask yourself this question:

Can you explain your brand identity, meaning your brand position, purpose, promise and image, in one sentence?

If you can, that’s great. It means you have a clear definition of your current brand identity.

If not, you need to take some time to define your brand so you can consistently communicate your brand message across all of your customer touch points.

Next, ask yourself these questions:

If your one sentence brand identity was included on your marketing piece or business card and your company name were switched with another, would it matter?
Would your brand identity sentence work just as well on that other company’s materials or business cards as it does on yours?

If it does, then that’s great.

If it doesn’t, then you need to think about changing your brand strategy. Your brand should be unique to your business or product. No other company or product should be able to use your brand identity sentence. If they can, then your brand is not differentiated enough from the myriad of other businesses and products on the market.

Take some time to think about your brand and its uniqueness and make any necessary changes now. You’ll reap the rewards in the short and long term if you do.

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.