Why is branding such a big deal?
By Ken Lessall

Imagine that your franchise company is a motorboat. Get in. Crank the engine. Pull away from the dock. As you do, take a look over your shoulder and notice the wake that's trailing you. Consider that churning brew your "brand wake."

No matter how big or small your company is, it leaves a wake behind as it moves through relationships with franchisees, consumers, vendors and the multiplicity of people who in some way touch or are touched by your business.

That metaphorical brand wake is the brand equity of your company. It is the sum of all the perceptions held concerning each aspect of your enterprise by every audience that is important to its success.

Brand equity is a strategic asset, albeit intangible, but perhaps one of the most important in your portfolio. The question is are you managing that equity in an

intentional way, or are you allowing it to become what it will? Are you building brand equity, or depleting one of the most precious assets in crafting your future success?

Branding is a big deal because it is about asserting conscious control over all the ways you influence the perception of your key audiences. It is actively directing customer loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness, brand identity/associations and other proprietary assets you might have that drive your point of differentiation in the marketplace.

I'm not talking about advertising or marketing alone. I'm talking about the whole enchilada, or "cocktail" as Barry Gibbons, former Burger King CEO and turn-around champ, puts it. Mr. Gibbons considers the brand "...a 'cocktail' of price, product, service and the relationship with the ultimate downstream user. You mix them and you've got to be distinct. Then - and only then - you've got a brand."

One could say branding is not only a big deal, but the whole deal. Consider the value of branding in this simple equation from Tom Peters, the high priest of branding: Branding = Trust = Shortcut. What would you pay for the kind of brand equity that constantly is able to shorten the selling cycle of your franchise and its products or services? Trust in your brand identity can bring cohesion to your franchise organization and magic to the bottom line of all the business owners involved.

Branding and the process of brand development is a big deal because it gives the CEO and President of a franchise organization an incredibly powerful lens with which to maintain perspective in making the detailed decisions required to run the enterprise. Next time you're having a hard time making a decision, ask yourself, "Is this choice going to help enhance the value of my brand?" It's not just something to put on the plates of your marketing or advertising VPs. Be honest. Do you give them the kind of control that would allow them to fundamentally differentiate your brand - to turn your business category upside down and dominate?

Unless you understand the dynamics of the churning brew of your brand wake, and constantly monitor it, you are not managing one of the most important strategic assets of your company. And that, my friends, is a big deal.

So, how do you "do" branding? How do you buy it? How do you direct the process? Stay tuned.