So what exactly is in a brand? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet… or would it?
The immortal words of Shakespeare resonate even today in the realm of business and more specifically trade marks.
Just as Romeo and Juliet struggled with their branding issue of being Capulets and Montagues, many a business has struggled with its perception and brand value.
Are you getting good brand value?
A brand is more than a word, logo or other sign used by a business to distinguish its business, products and/or services.
A brand embodies the values of the business and tells a story. This story is then reinforced through the conduct, actions and the perception of the business’ employees and products.
If a brand isn’t memorable and/or doesn’t stand for anything then it is difficult for consumers to align themselves with that brand and/or form an allegiance to that brand.
A good brand will stay in the mind of the consumer and encapsulate values of the brand that are reinforced by the actions of the business and/or employees, or by the properties of the product.
If your brand does this, then you need to ensure your brand is protected to maintain your monopoly in it and ensure third parties can’t springboard off your goodwill or damage your brand by using it or something similar in an unfavourable way.
Should you rebrand your business?
If your brand isn’t doing this, you may wish to consider a rebrand. A rebrand can be anything from a new logo, a new colour scheme, to a whole new set of brand values.
All businesses have a brand, including law firms. Macpherson Kelley recently went through a rebranding process.
This process resulted in a bold change to the look of the firm and a consolidation of the underlying message that was embodied by our brand (a brand that has evolved over 114 years).
The new brand embodies our firm values of being better each day, talking straight and playing as a team. Additionally, we implemented five brand pillars, being things we want our client’s to experience when dealing with us, namely:
- Relationships come first
- We are bold
- We are grounded
- We are insightful
- We are connected with the businesses and industries in which we operate.
In creating these pillars, we’re able to reinforce our brand promise of law fit for business.
In adopting this rebrand we didn’t change the brand name but we changed the appearance of it and refined the underlying brand value portrayed by Macpherson Kelley.
Register your brand
The only way to ensure you can maintain a monopoly in your brand (or rebrand) is to secure it as a registered trade mark.
This 10 year renewable monopoly provides you with a statutory right to use your trade mark to the sole exclusion of every other business in relation to the goods or services for which the trade mark is registered.