1. BRANDING BASICS
T H E F U N D A M E N T A L S O F
D E V E L O P I N G A B R A N D
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DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
BRANDING BASICS
T H E F U N D A M E N T A L S O F
D E V E L O P I N G A B R A N D
Introduction
A brand is the “feeling” people have about your company, product, or service. It is
the emotion that is brought forth when people see or hear information about your company
or products.
A brand is not what you define, think, or feel about yourself as a company, but rather what
your customers and the public define, think, or feel about you. Ultimately, others define your
brand because it is all about their perceptions and behaviors … although you can influence
what others think and feel about you through strategic brand management.
This briefing paper is designed to help you better answer the following questions:
1. What is a brand?
2. Why is it important?
3. How can we build and manage our brand?
What Is A Brand?
Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity. A brand
cannot thrive without both working together seamlessly. This is the single biggest disconnect
in most companies face as they try to build or manage a brand.
To avoid this costly error and be successful in building a strong and compelling brand, every
stakeholder of the organization has to work together. For example, research projects must align
with marketing messages. Executive remarks must match web site content.
In almost every company, education about branding needs to occur with board members, staff,
sales forces, customer service representatives – basically everyone who interacts in some way
with your products and customers. This includes engaging them so they feel ownership for the
brand and aligning their work with the overall brand direction.
Only one competitor can be the cheapest and everyone else will have to use branding to
differentiate themselves and create demand for their products. The foundation of any brand
is trust, which means all areas of your organization will have to work together to develop a
powerful and consistent brand that speaks directly to your end customer.
By successfully building a strong and charismatic brand, your customers will believe there is no
substitute for the product or service you offer.

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
Key Brand Components
There are two key components that make up the brand. The two work together
seamlessly to build a brand over time. To fully understand brand development, you must first
understand these two primary elements and how they work together to create a brand.
1. Brand Strategy
The strategic part of the brand is the operational piece of the brand. What does the
business believe, think, and do? Important components of the brand strategy include:
Core Values that drive business decisions
Mission & Vision statements that define the goals of the organization
Key Messages & Strategic Communications plans that reach core audiences
If the brand strategy is clearly outlined and followed, over time it becomes the personality of
the business.
2. Brand Creative
Traditionally, many people associate the creative or visual elements with the brand.
While the visual components are important to the brand, they add little value unless
they represent something defined in the brand strategy. Nonetheless, brand creative is
the identifiable face of the business and therefore the brand should have well-defined creative
components, including:
Logo and logo guidelines
Color schemes
Font selections
If the brand creative is clearly outlined and followed, over time it becomes the visual face of
the business.
Having A Strong Brand Is Important
It is no surprise that compelling brands have higher market share and usually
command premium pricing. If you want to take your product or service from a “generic” to a
“must have,” the brand will have to support this transition.
A company without a strong brand is like being asked to look at a photograph and then
describe personality traits about a person you’ve never met. Even if you see the most wonderful
logo, it cannot tell you much about the organization if you are not familiar with the brand and
the values important to the business it represents.

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
How To Build & Manage A Brand
Pillars of Brand Development
There are 5 pillars to brand development and management. These five areas work
together to help a business manage its brand in order to reach customers at a deeper level.
CREATE A FOUNDATION
Know who you are as a company: specifically, be able to articulate what separates you from the
competition. What makes you unique? How many ways can you show/communicate that message?
CONNECT
Ensure that every
person ­— both inside
and working with your
organization — knows the
value and importance of
building a brand. Educate
stakeholders and teach
them how to elevate the
brand anytime they
make any decision about
the business.
CUSTOMIZE
Use research and
strategies to further
customize the brand by
developing products and
services that align with
brand objectives and
meet customer demands.
Learn how to stay ahead
of the competition with
unique product offerings,
messages, and values.
CONFIRM
Confirm your brand plans
with basic market research
tactics that will help you
make decisions about
the look and feel of the
company in addition to the
overall strategic direction
of the business.
CULTIVATE
Equip everyone in the organization with the knowledge, tools, and resources to build the brand with
every phone call, every Facebook post, every board meeting, and every research project. Let the
brand grow and change slightly over time if the market demands such change.

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
1. Create A Foundation
The first step is defining what your company is at its core. Every stakeholder in the
company must be able to answer three important questions – with the same answers.
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Why does it matter?
The first two tend to be pretty easy, but the third question is the key. Here’s an example of a
company that can answer all three questions pretty well … but for how long?
EXAMPLE: JOHN DEERE
Example from “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier
Who are you and what do you do?
We are John Deere, we make farm tractors and related equipment.
Why does it matter?
It matters because generations of farmers have trusted our equipment.
The challenge John Deere will face (as a brand) is how far they diversify their business into areas
like lawn tools. Will expanding their offering erode or grow their brand?
Brands often struggle deciding when they need to diversify to meet changing market demands
(examples: Borders®
not adding eBooks and Blockbuster®
failing to quickly embrace streaming
movie rentals) while not over-diversifying to the point where they diminish the quality and
power of their brand (Starbucks expanding past coffee to ice cream, music, etc.).
Standing for Something
The key to developing a strong and lasting brand is knowing for what you stand. In our
example, John Deere’s brand relies on being the best in farm machinery for years, but will that
message resonate with suburban households looking to buy a lawn mower? Plus, consider what
farmers think about the company putting so much money and emphasis into this seemingly
unrelated market. These are questions which brand managers struggle with every day. Careful,
deliberate thought and market research are mandatory, as you can imagine.
Companies can bring clarity to their brand by knowing who they are, what they offer, and why
people should want it. How you are different and how does that benefit the customer?

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
2. Connect
When everyone in the company works together, the brand wins. It takes everyone on
the team working together to develop the brand. This includes staff at all levels, the board,
committee members, marketing teams, researchers, salesmen … everyone.
In short, connecting really is defining a focus and placing a new emphasis on the partnerships
inside the organization. When this happens, everyone begins working together for the
common goals or the organization.
To figure out the best route for connecting, we have to determine how to fit all these pieces
together. Like a puzzle, each piece on its own doesn’t show much, but when put together properly
you can see a picture – a vision for the organization. To connect all these pieces, everyone will
have to work together to develop a model that makes the most sense for the organization.
3. Customize
Customized technology is what will give the brand traction in the market place. It is
important the creative teams fully understand the philosophy and plans of the research teams,
because they must work together to create a cohesive brand that works for the long term.
Because brands are expensive to create and costly to replace, it’s essential that brand strategy
looks further down the road to develop a comprehensive brand that will withstand the long-
term goals of the organization. In addition to customized technology, it’s important to develop
a customized strategy. How can your organization stand out among its competitors? People
notice what’s different.
This relates directly to names. Brand and product names should be brief, easy to spell/
pronounce, appropriate for the product or organization, unique, likable, extendable across
product lines, and protectable.
4. Confirm
The most under-valued pillar of the brand strategy is quite possibly the process of
confirming what you believe to be true. This can be called validation or proof of concept.
However you phrase it, it is important to gather at least baseline perceptions and thoughts
related to the brand and its elements (for example, product names, logos, and key messages)
through market research with target audiences.
Brand elements should be measured on criteria, such as:
Distinctiveness
Relevance
Memorability
Extendibility
The brand foundation should not be built on the most likable, but rather the name and brand
elements that bring forth understanding.

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info@DemeterCommunications.com /DemeterCommunications @DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com 217.351.1807 406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821
5. Cultivate
Developing brand elements that define how your company looks and presents
information is only the beginning. Your brand has to be much deeper.
Farmers purchase seed, prep the ground, plant the seeds, manage growth, and harvest the crop.
It is important to grow your brand in the same way. Every person in the organization must
support the foundation of the new brand and stay connected to grow the brand and move
forward.
The person answering the phone and the person doing the face-to-face meeting with a reporter
are just as important as the postcard mailings and the website when it comes to building a true
brand. People are the authentic face of the company, and their words, actions, and behaviors
must integrate with the brand and overall identity of the company.
In addition, no decision — big or small ­— should be made without first asking the million-
dollar question: Will this help or hurt the brand?
Final Notes
Put the fundamentals in place first.
Remember that the most “liked” message, name, or logo is not always the best. What is
important is that it truly connects and engages your target audience. Be sure that names,
messages, and visual elements integrate well with each other and align with your brand.
As we begin your branding project, we will ask all the stakeholders to keep their minds open
and do their best to steer clear of personal preferences and preconceived ideas. Demeter will
guide you to the best brand to represent who you are, what you do, and why it’s important.
Create > Connect > Customize > Confirm > Cultivate

8. Is your brand growing your business?
Come to us for the Demeter Difference.
Demeter Communications is a full service marketing and communications firm specializing in agricultural and food
marketing. We bring together a talented team of associates with decades of experience to help agribusiness grow.
CONTACT US
info@DemeterCommunications.com
/DemeterCommunications
@DemeterComm
DemeterCommunications.com
217.351.1807
406 S. Edwin St., Champaign, IL 61821