Branding mistakes have been made by the very biggest companies. When the No. 2 burger chain debuted its "King" mascot, executives undoubtedly thought the quirky campaign would increase sales. Apparently it never occurred to anybody that creeping people out probably won't make them hungry for fast food. Net effect: Burger King slipped to No. 3. Lesson: Any idiot can get attention; the trick is to drive buying behaviour.

3. Lack of a branding strategy
A strategy allows you to identify
your marketing, your message
and how you are going to get it
across, and the ongoing
development of your brand.

5. Lack of consistency
If you fail to present customers
with a consistent brand, they will
become confused about who you
are and what you are offering.

7. No logo or images
A picture is worth a thousand
words. Customers may not recall
your name or tagline but a
memorable logo or associated
image is likely to be remembered.

9. Out of date
While risky to change a
successful brand, at the same
time it’s important to keep your
image and marketing material up
to date.

11. Failure to keep your target
market as the focus
Identify your target market and
concentrate on appealing to
them.
Focus on what the client actually
wants, not what you think they
need.

13. Copying someone else’s brand
Goes without saying yes? But it
happens. Branding is about a
promise to your customers, you
cannot copy someone else’s
promise.

15. Failure to deliver on your
promise
Branding is about building trust,
if you make a promise in your
tagline you must be meeting your
customer’s expectations on that
promise.

17. Failure to check the basics
Businesses are caught out by not
checking facts. Schweppes Tonic
water translates to toilet water in
Italian!