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Branding isn’t just about having a logo or catchy slogan—it’s about crafting a voice and message that resonates deeply with your clients and team. I cannot tell you how often we talk with employee benefits agency leaders who tell us, “We’re in the process of redoing our website.” 🙄
This usually means they are trying to capture some new momentum with a pretty new site, but they haven’t put in the time or effort to decide who they are as an organization, how their work benefits their clients, which type of clients benefit the most from what they do, or have a defined message to take to those potential clients.
Way too many overlook the crucial step of defining their brand before diving into marketing activities. This can be an intensive process that often feels frustrating and tedious, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
I’m probably not selling you on the value of this effort, and to be perfectly honest, it’s one of the most difficult things we take business owners through. But that shouldn’t make it something to shy away from. In fact, it should make it all the more reason to commit to doing it.
To help explain the process and value, I’m going to rely on clients who have gone through it to help make the case for why this is such an important business move.
The more effort you put into getting it done well (notice I didn’t say quickly), the stronger the foundation you build for your business’s future. Having gone through the process and ultimately decided to change the name of their company, Luke Davis from Novaura is a believer in how important it is to take the time to go through all the details and have conversations, as tough as they are.
Why brand definition matters
For closely held businesses like independent insurance agencies, your brand should reflect who you are as individuals and as a team. It’s more than identifying your target market or crafting a tagline. The process is about articulating the “why” behind your business in a way that shapes every interaction, internally and externally.
We talk with so many agencies, and too many—okay, most agencies—think they have a grasp on their brand simply because they have a logo, a website, and maybe a mission statement. However, Bret Brummitt, founder of Generous Benefits, explains:
“Brand Definition exercises are everything you think you have already done, but you haven’t. You have an idea. You have your general “why” around your agency and brand, but you haven’t really fleshed it out."
My advice to agencies as we work through their brand is that if you're not looking at the process as slightly uncomfortable, then you probably aren’t taking it far enough. If you're comfortable with it today, it's already a little stagnant. You need to push the boundaries to make it last.
What is this Brand Definition?
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably curious enough to want to know how to outsmart your competition.
Walter Landwehr, Partner at SGL Partners, sets the stage of what you’ll be walking into when you decide to get serious about your brand.
“Creating our branding strategy was harder than it looked. My initial thinking was branding involved identifying our target market and creating an effective message for that audience. The actual process was much more internal facing than my expectations. Distilling our message for “why” we do what we do was a challenge.”
When defining your brand, explore and document the most critical components of your brand’s identity:
- Company Purpose: Defining the “why” behind your business. It’s not just about making a profit—that’s the result, not the purpose. This exercise helps you uncover the emotional connection that drives your passion for your work and the meaningful difference you want to make in your client’s lives.
- Company Values: Establishing core beliefs and standards that guide your company’s decisions and interactions. Consistency is key; having a unified set of values ensures everyone on your team makes decisions aligned with the brand’s goals and identity.
- Culture: Knowing who you are as an organization is imperative for developing a strong, unified team. When you intentionally define your culture, you know what you need to keep it strong and enhance it. As importantly, you also know what will potentially detract from it.
- Brand Personality: Determining how you want to be perceived. Is your voice professional, relaxed, innovative, or nurturing? This involves defining how your brand sounds and feels and ensuring every message aligns with the desired tone.
- Audience and Challenges: Identifying your ideal clients and the issues they face. It's more than demographics; understanding their values, goals, and frustrations enables you to create a brand that speaks directly to their needs.
- Value Proposition: Explaining concisely to your audience how your services will help them. This is your opportunity to let them know how their business will improve as a result of working with you.
Embracing the challenge
The process forces you to confront uncomfortable truths and push beyond surface-level answers, making you get serious about introspection—figuring out who you are, what you stand for, and how you're valuable to your clients.
Bret concisely explains the love-hate of the process and how it will put you outside your comfort zone:
"The process is tedious, grueling, and extremely rewarding. It makes you stop and do things you don’t naturally want to do."
But that discomfort means you're pushing the boundaries, reaching deeper truths about your business, and finding the guiding principles that make your brand unique and valuable.
Satisfaction – it feels so good!
When you persevere through the process, the result is a clear, consistent reference for everything your brand represents—what you say, how you say it, and the spirit behind it. Luke shared a great story that demonstrates the deep satisfaction you can find on the other side of getting it done and using it consistently.
"I had a client come up to me and ask if we had been bought. We were at a conference we were sponsoring, and they asked if our ownership had changed. The answer was no; everything was the same. It’s a new identity, a new look, and a new name. And they said, 'Wow! Y'all look so much more corporate and legit.'"
I will second how cool those moments are to hear that feedback and to know that your boundary-pushing paid off. It resonates the way you hoped it would, despite how uncomfortable you may have been along the way.
Walt talks about the clarity they have by defining their brand and how it’s changed their approach to client conversations:
"Incorporating ‘why, how, and what’ into our conversations with prospects and clients sets the stage for a much different conversation than our prior approach, which was focused on our capabilities. By default, these initial prospect conversations differentiate us from our competitors."
Living up to the brand
Defining your brand is not just a one-time activity; it's about committing to living up to the ideals and promises you set. Your brand should be a living entity, constantly evolving and adapting. Regularly revisiting your Brand Definition helps keep your message fresh and ensures it continues to resonate with your audience as your business grows.
Luke uses their name and tagline, “A new dawn in employee benefits,” as a call to action:
"For me, that pushes the needle on my end. We have to deliver on what we’re saying we do. Otherwise, people are going to find out pretty quick that you're just like the other guys."
I love this motivation! If your defined brand components don’t push you to be better internally and externally, again, you haven’t pushed it far enough. It should be your guide to constantly do better.
The best time to define your brand was yesterday, and the next best time is today. As Bret so eloquently advises:
"Allow yourself to go into it unfettered and let the creative side come out. You need a utopian dream in your brand because it’s a guiding light for your business."
Ready to define your company brand?
Knowing when and how to define your brand is a key component of our Goose curriculum. Join our community to access the tools and conversations to enhance your brand and message and learn to outsmart your competitors by focusing on yourself and your clients—not your competition.
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Content originally published on Q4intelligence
Photo by yuriiyarema
