The Denver Business Journal is running an interesting article presenting five essential steps to take for branding a professional services firm.
The key point of the article is however expressed in the beginning:
To most of us, the term “brand” conjures up an identifying symbol, a catchy phrase, or a trademark that a company uses to identify and advertise its product. However, the true purpose of a brand goes well beyond sending a series of impressions into a target market to create a response. A brand makes a promise; it pledges quality to the user. Brand success is critical in the professional services firm where the people are the product and the brand must be lived to ensure that the promise is fulfilled.
Than, the five proposed steps, are no less interesting:
1. Begin with a definition of who you are.
Start by asking clients what elements of the service they receive from your firm are the most important to them.
2. Match that to your own organizational values
Define the qualities that make your firm different from others like yours.
3. Now put it together to create the message
Start by formulating your external message — the one that goes outside the firm to your clients and the general market.
4. Bring it inside
Your internal branding message should clearly define the clients served by the firm, the characteristics of the service provided, and the work style of your firm’s professionals.
5. Assimilate your brand
Keep the momentum going by connecting the branding process to firm’s technologies, work flow and overall management systems. Develop “brand language” to help people communicate and make decisions using the values of the brand message. Your intranet system provides the perfect medium to promulgate the branding message, and offers a wide range of tools that allow users across the firm to communicate easily, share ideas, and serve your clients more effectively.