SME Shows How To Build A Brand…

In the day to day struggle of making ends meet and achieving ROI, companies can lose focus as to what their core message and mission is. The ability to grab little pieces of a financial or sales pie, or to satusfy a business partners immediate as opposed to ling term needs, can get a company offtrack, and sometimes that simple distraction or change in vision can prove very costly for the long term. The lack of consistency of message and branding and mission can really determine what competive companies are successful in their space, and what companies can fall by the wayside. Now it is true in today's challenged economy that one does have to be flexible and answer to many, many masters from time to time. Creativity is key. However flexibility does not have to mean being inconsistent with messaging or look and feel.

So how does one build that consistency, one that is conveyed through every touch point both internally and externall.? Some try to do it ad-hoc, with limited results, some go to the companies that build brands. one of those brand building companies is New York based SME. SME recently undertook a new branding exercise for new Pac 10 Commissioner Larry Scott, the details of which can be seen here. It is an interesting look inside how a brand needs to be built and consistently identified, and is even more interesting given the current volatility in the collegiat. athletic marketplace as Universities await the ultimate decision of mega-conferences like the Big Ten and their thoughts on expansion. The key for any brand or company is conveyed in SME's work with the Pac 10. There has to be consistency of positioning and messaging both internally and externally. Wherever their is a touch point with a consumer or a business partner, that consistency in look and feel is conveyed so everyone who comes in contact with that company has an effective and thorough understanding of what the company stands for and what the company does. Some is subtle, in logo and color scheme. Some is very overt in things like market positioning and messaging. End of the day it all ties together to give a very consistent look and feel, and helps keep all involved focused at a time in the marketplace where lack of focus can easily rule the roost. Is the work that SME and other branding firms always essentia.? Some would say no, that it may be superfluous in today's environment where business is constantly evolving. However in order to be successful in a changing environment, whether you are a company, a team or an individual, you have to be able to convey to the world what you are, and sometimes, what you are not. The consistent message that SME helps craft for companies and brands makes that market positioning very clear, and makes it much easier for anyone to keep focused on the business of business. It is a volatile business world, but that volatility does not have to extend to explaining who and what your company stands for and does, which at the end of the day is the building block for any successful company. Those building blocks of brand are not superfluous, they are actually very essential. Just ask the Pac 10.