How Strong is Your Brand?

The Six Elements to Creating a Strong Brand

What comes to mind when you hear the word brand? You might think of some brands that are recognizable world-wide such as Coca-Cola or McDonalds, or you might think of your local grocery store chain, or maybe a brand of car such as Toyota or BMW. No matter what brands come to mind, they all stand for something. A brand is a promise from a company to be consistent with what, how, and why they do something. Ryan Eby wrote 6 Key Elements that Make a Strong Brand which outlines some useful ways to make sure that you are headed in the right direction with your brand.

Branding is essential in the restaurant industry, as it can, and should, evoke emotions in your customers when they simply hear your name. It takes time to establish a strong brand. A brand should be consistent and evident throughout every part of a customer’s experience with a company. The six key elements that Eby highlighted are:

1. Business Name: first thing customers see, needs to logically correspond with the brand concept

2. Logo: a great logo has consistency and awareness, reminds customers of your company

3. Color Scheme: pick an appropriate color combination, different colors have different effects on people, ie: warm colors (red, orange, yellow) are known to stimulate hunger

4. Uniforms: need to compliment the company’s atmosphere, dress codes also positively impact workers’ attitudes,

5. Tagline: a good slogan should be original, creative, and yet, specific to the company

6. Customer Experience: there needs to be consistency across the board, from how customers are greeted, to their wait time, to the way their food is prepared and served,

Your brand needs to be unique and consistent. Each small detail should point back to your brand concept. When you maintain a strong cohesive brand throughout all elements of the company, you set yourself apart from others. This generates faithful customers, because they know what to expect every time. They will become familiar and comfortable with your brand which will create repeat business.

Featured Recipe

Celebrate your Valentines Day with a special touch from allrecipes.com

Yield: 60 Pieces

Ingredients:

• 60 Maraschino cherries w/stems
• 3 Tbsp softened butter
• 3 Tbsp corn syrup
• 2 Cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 Lb chocolate confectioners’ coating

Directions:

1. Drain cherries, set on paper towels to dry
2. Combine butter and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in confectioners’ sugar and knead to form a dough – chill to stiffen (if necessary)
3. Wrap each cherry in about 1 tsp of dough, chill until firm
4. Melt chocolate coating in heavy saucepan over low heat, dip cherry by stem, place on wax paper
5. Chill until set, then enjoy!