A strong brand conveys what your company stands for — and what sets you apart.
Creating a strong brand is fundamental for home product manufacturers. But a strong brand is more than a logo and a catchy tagline. A strong brand conveys what your company stands for — and what sets you apart. When done well, an aligned brand is your most influential recruiter, best salesperson, and bottom-line builder, uniting employees, vendors, dealers, and customers with your brand story.
Let’s explore why brand alignment matters and cover practical tips for achieving it effectively.
Why Brand Alignment Matters
Brand alignment is foundational for a healthy culture and growth. If you experience any of the following happening in your company, improving brand alignment is critical:
- You experience long sales cycles and low close rates.
- Prospective customers aren’t clear on the value of your offering.
- Employees appear disengaged.
- Employees or departments don’t work well together.
- Customer experiences are disjointed or vary widely.
- You have high dissatisfaction rates.
- You’re losing sales because standing out in a crowded market is difficult.
- Competitors in your market are growing faster than you are.
When your brand is aligned, everyone, from employees to customers, can stand with you on a shared belief. Your company, products, and brand create a united front that everyone involved can get behind. Seem silly? Do you have a favorite team, vehicle brand, clothing brand, restaurant, or grocery item?
We all align with brands, consciously or not. Brand alignment takes work but leads to trust and credibility, which are essential for long-term success in any industry.
The Benefits of Brand Alignment
Home product manufacturers that prioritize brand alignment experience higher levels of brand recognition, employee retention, customer loyalty, increased market share, and improved competitiveness. By presenting a unified brand image, companies can differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace and build lasting customer relationships through the alignment of values and beliefs.
Advantages of Internal Brand Alignment
Internally, brand alignment means you’ve communicated and demonstrated what your organization’s mission is and what your brand’s values are to your employees, contractors, dealers, and resellers.
This effort starts with transparent communication of your brand vision and fostering a culture that reflects these values.
The more often your mission and values are communicated and demonstrated, the more likely employees and partners will embody your brand values and understand the company’s mission.
Engaged employees and partners who believe in your brand are more likely to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Benefits of External Brand Alignment
Externally, brand alignment involves consistently portraying your brand across all customer touchpoints, including marketing materials, product packaging, and customer service interactions.
Work your company’s vision, mission, and values into:
- What you say
- What you do
- How you say it
- How you do it
This consistency builds brand recognition and helps to reinforce your brand’s identity in the minds of consumers.
Marketing, Sales and Customer Service Alignment
Effective brand alignment requires collaboration between your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.
Your marketing team should equip your sales and customer service teams with tools that effectively and consistently communicate your brand’s values and unique selling proposition (USP) to leads, prospects, and customers.
By aligning your marketing, sales, and customer service strategies, you can create a seamless customer experience that drives sales, builds brand loyalty, and encourages referrals.
How to Achieve Brand Alignment
To achieve brand alignment, home product manufacturers should first assess their vision, mission, and values. If it’s not clear, diligently clarify it. Make it clear and simple.
Next, review current branding efforts and identify areas for improvement. Identifying areas for improvement can come through employee surveys, analyzing customer feedback, and auditing existing marketing materials.
Use that information to develop a tailored alignment strategy based on your targeted areas of improvement and your brand identity and values.
With a clear understanding of your brand identity and values, you can develop a comprehensive brand alignment strategy tailored to your unique needs and objectives.
If this seems overwhelming, consider finding a partner to help you through the process.
For example, our proven framework helps home product manufacturers clarify their vision, mission, and values and then embed them across every line of communication.
Your Next Steps
Brand alignment is essential for home product manufacturers aiming to succeed in an ever-competitive international market. By ensuring consistency across all aspects of your business, internally and externally, you can build trust, drive customer loyalty, and position your company for long-term success.
Start with an employee and customer survey to gauge the clarity and strength of your brand. The more objective you can be with the feedback, the greater your opportunity to grow through improving your brand alignment.
If you need help developing and implementing a brand alignment strategy, our team at Perk Brands is here to help. Contact us today or schedule a brief meeting to learn more about how we can support your brand’s growth and success.
About the Author
Jason Otis is the president of Perk Brands and founder of Built for Home. Perk Brands is a digital marketing agency that partners with home product manufacturers to make their products easy to find and buy. Built for Home is a community of home product manufacturers and a resource for buyers to find products that make their lives better at home.
