A brand doesn’t mean much until you measure it

“Brand” and “branding” became major buzzwords more than 20 years ago. To such an extent now that those words get tossed around without much thought. Subsequently, they don’t really mean much to many folks who think of “branding” as little more than colors, logos, fonts and swag stamped with the company name.  

But one way to inject some meaning back into the idea of a brand is to measure. 

Let’s say, for example, that one of your company’s essential brand attributes is that it has some of the deepest, most experienced and knowledgeable experts to be found anywhere in the arena of communications technologies for small businesses. Your company’s cornerstone is that no one knows more about what small businesses need when it comes to phones, computers, routers, cabling and all the infrastructure necessary to communicate efficiently with customers, vendors and employees.

So far, so good. But unless you can measure it, it’s very difficult to know if your brand message has any real impact. 

The good news is you can measure many things that directly or indirectly tell you whether the brand message is accomplishing anything. 

First, you may survey your clients – some of them or all of them – and ask them point blank what they think of your claim.  Depending on how you pose the question, they might tell you they agree you’re expertise is unmatched regarding telecommunications gear, but less impressive when it comes to networks.

The point is to ask them as directly as you can.  And to heed what they tell you.

You can also define what it means to win.  Not just to win a new client, but how your work helps them win. Maybe your clients can report that after one year of using the system you created for them that they are answering customer phone calls 30 percent faster than before. That’s a win.  Or their downtime is down to 2 percent of working hours when they averaged 8 percent downtime previously.  That’s a win.

Those sorts of metrics indirectly speak to your brand. In other words, the reason your clients achieved those great wins is that they tapped into your company and its outstanding expertise.  The brand now isn’t just pretty words, it’s real and quantifiable. It’s helping your customers win.

Expansion of your clients can be another indirect indicator of the brand. If a client spent $100,000 with your firm last year, but this year they spent $150,000 and purchased additional services from you, it’s safe to say they believe in your brand and that you are living up to it. Conversely, a client that suddenly drops you and switches to a competitor is voting with their wallet; they aren’t buying the idea that your firm is the best anymore.  You’ve got some work to do to live up to the pretty brand messaging, at least for that customer.

Brand can be meaningfully measured in countless ways.  Companies should be willing to hold themselves accountable for how well their actual performance measures up to the things they claim when they write down brand attributes as well as missions, visions, values, positioning statements, taglines, and the like. 

As the great basketball coach Pat Summitt said, “Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.” Apply this to your company’s brand and you will separate your company from most competitors immediately.