I was out at Home Depot recently doing some shopping.  I happened to be wearing a shirt that had the logo of one of my client’s companies embroidered on it. I was surprised when another shopper walked over and asked me, “is that your company.”  I briefly explained my relationship to the company, and we had a brief talk, and then we went our separate ways.  As I got back to my shopping I had an ahaaa . . . my client’s identity was growing because I was wearing a shirt with his brand on it.

You know, CEO’s we talk a lot about branding in our business because we know how important it is to have a great company logo and a memorable slogan.  But what are you doing to make sure that the hard work and expense you went through to get that logo is having its biggest impact?  What are you doing beyond the brand itself to make sure that people recognize you?  There are many, many ways that you can identify yourself uniquely in the market you serve.  You could use a clever little giveaway with your logo or slogan on it.  You might get your slogan put on shirts that you and your employees wear.  You might find that your best identifier is something unique in your product or service that you are able to promote in a public way.  It can be just about anything, but it must be something.  The rule is, if you don’t have something that uniquely identifies you, you have no identity.

Here’s a tip:   Think about your business.  Think about what you have that can be promoted or distributed to uniquely identify you in your market.  What will people remember?  For example, I once had a client that served the real estate industry.  To make sure people knew who he was, he would fill a candy jar with his logo and his name on it.  He gave these jars to real estate agents as gifts, and then every couple months he’d go around to the different real estate agents and refill that candy jar with candy.  He became known as the Candy Man.  At Estrada Strategies, we put our logo and website address on a gold coin that we call a “Round TUIT.”  I am sure many of you have one.  People know us as the company that has that little gold coin that helps people get things done in order to move forward.  What do you have?

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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