These days, all anyone can seem to talk about is "branding." Not the red-hot iron on a cow's backside kind, but the kind that makes people nod their head knowingly when they see a particular graphic or hear the first few notes of a familiar jingle. Actually, the two definitions are related: by branding yourself you are, effectively, "burning" the image of your company in your customers' brains.

How much money did McDonald's have to spend before the entire world started to associate two yellow arches with a cheap, mediocre hamburger? And how much value would you assign to an hourglass-shaped bottle which, even empty, calls forth the words "Coca Cola" instantaneously? Both are ingenious examples of using marketing as applied psychology.

Most businesses will never enjoy the kind of branding homerun achieved by commercial icons such as the Nike swoosh, the Izod alligator, or Geico's gecko. Yet they manage to make money just the same. An instantly recognizable logo, symbol, or slogan is not a prerequisite for success, but it certainly speeds up the ride. And while it's not necessary to hire a high-priced graphic design team to come up with a symbol exclusive to you and you alone, you do need to consider and claim some distinctive identity to use in marketing your business.

A well-constructed website will be successful in spite of a lame logo, but take a look at yours anyway. Does it accurately "say" who your business is and what it does? Does it convey a feeling of confidence, trustworthiness, and dependability? Or does it say "Boring!", "Cheapskate!" or "Exactly what is it you do?" If the latter is the case, you might want to hop on the branding bandwagon, too.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind if it's time to get serious about creating, or updating, your image:

1. Whatever identity you decide to go with, it needs to be a cohesive one. Don't use one set of colors or typefaces for your business cards, another for your letterhead, and still another on the home page of your website. Be consistent. The whole idea behind branding is to establish a familiar "look and feel" to help customers identify and relate to you.
2. Be unique. The world can only handle one talking gecko at a time, and three letters with scan lines running through them will forever belong to IBM. That's not to say you can't modify and tweak a branding concept you admire. If you're convinced a talking animal is the best way to sell your widgets then, by all means, use one. But try to find one that has some direct correlation to the business you're in. In the same way, choose colors and type fonts that appropriately represent your business, or the image you want customers to have of your business. If you manufacture bricks, for example, a prissy cursive font over a pink lace background is not going to present the same impression as bold black letters on a burnt orange rectangle. For Practical Business Systems, our graphic identity is a pattern of red, black, and grey lines and blocks; we feel that combination sends a message of power, professionalism, sophistication, and simplicity-traits with which we like to associate ourselves. Our customers are typically conservative, serious-minded, business owners; assuming we want to continue attracting that type of customer, our branding must appeal to that demographic.
3. Keep it simple. The less complicated your marketing tools are, the easier your life will be. More to the point, the easier your customer will find it to connect you with your product or service. Complicated line drawings, multiple colors, multiple fonts.not only are those difficult and expensive to reproduce or resize, they're confusing for people to process. Think about Apple's apple silhouette, Jell-O's five note jingle, Campbell's Soup's "Mmm-mmm good!" All are basic, uncomplicated, yet utterly distinctive.
4. Work the brand. Once you've created your identity, interpret it in every way possible: digitally (websites, e-mail signatures, blogs), visually (letterhead, business card, brochures, newsletters, t-shirts, signs, promotional giveaways such as calendars and pens), auditorally (jingles, slogans, radio and TV commercials, streaming video, CDs and DVDs), and beyond. While you want to keep your brand itself simple, you can get outrageously creative in its usage. Own your own building? Hire an artist to paint your logo on the side of an exterior wall. Feeling philanthropic? Sponsor a kids' sports team and plaster "Eat at Bob's Burgers after the game!" across the back of their t-shirts. It's your brand; promote it!
5. Fake it till you make it. Just because you have yet to process more than ten orders a week, and your only employee is your wife's younger brother, doesn't mean you can't be a contender in the world of branding. One of the most alluring aspects of the Internet is its ability to level the playing field. With the right look and feel, your website can turn your Cannery Row warehouse into a Fifth Avenue showroom. Echo that elegance in the rest of your advertising efforts and it won't be long before you'll have that showroom. (Or maybe that warehouse is perfectly all right: in a virtual world, smoke and mirrors hold up fine as long as they're supported by good products and good customer service!) You never want to misrepresent who you are or what you do, but presenting the best version of you is just good marketing.

Branding isn't easy, but it's fun. And it can cost a fortune, but it doesn't have to. Pull together the best creative brains you know, add a flip chart, a few markers, a little pizza and, who knows? You may give birth to the next Energizer bunny!

Your website is waiting.

To read more about the art and science of branding, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_design
http://www.pixellogo.com/logo-design-tutorials.html