Marketing & Branding Agency Seeks to Add Value
After being part of other companies in the promotional product and apparel industry, Branding 180 President and Owner David Vander Bloomen decided to start his own company to continue giving top-tier service to his customers, but with more flexibility to customize their solutions to best maximize their investment. Since its founding in 2015, Branding180 continues to grow and is always striving to bring the newest industry offerings to its clients.
Branding180 focuses on the small to mid-size companies, but is set up to work with large companies as well. They take great pride in the individual service they provide to customers of all sizes, and customer satisfaction is their top priority.
Vander Bloomen uses the positives and negatives that have been pulled from past experiences in his career. He finds himself using the "3 R's" when working with his clients to cultivate an overall solution, rather than just selling a product: Repetition, Reputation, and Respect. All "R's" compliment each other, all while standing alone on their own merits.
Repetition
Typically being one of the first steps of the branding process, repetition speaks to putting your company's image, message, and purpose in front of as many people as possible, while also being smart about the approach. This does not always require the need to spend thousands of dollars in advertising, or buying every item with your logo on it as possible. Branding180 takes a look at your overall reach, your individual market snap-shot, and watches what your competition might be doing. Your target audience does not want to be bombarded with your company information, but they also want to make sure they know who to contact when a need arises. Maximizing the return on your investment is the goal in this process.
Reputation
Reputation comes with time, and over time shapes a brand's identity. How often have we heard, "Word of mouth is the best form of advertising?" You can spend the perfect amount of money on the repetition of branding, but if your customers don't have good things to say about you, it is a futile effort. What reputation do you want to be known for? Do you take calls after hours to accommodate your client's needs? Do you nickel and dime for your services? Do you back up your service or product? Do you go out of your way to follow-up with a previous client? Reputations can make or break a company, no matter their size.
Respect
While it can be a tag-along aspect of reputation, respect goes much deeper. When you hear the word "respect," what comes to mind? When it comes to respect for your business, this can be two-fold: internal and external respect. Internally, from a leadership standpoint, how do you treat your employees? Are you a boss or a leader? Do your employees enjoy working for you? Are they proud of the company they work for? If your employees are not happy, they are not out on the street bragging about your company. In reality, they are probably complaining to their friends about how they feel about their work place, thus affecting your reputation. A headline of an old article sums this up greatly: "You get what you give your employees." On the external side, how do you treat other companies within your market? Do you talk bad about competition? Do you dis-respect your neighboring stores by how you maintain your space? Do you act in a way that brings a negative view to the rest of your industry? The respect you show to those around you--good and bad--have a direct impact on how your brand is viewed by consumers.
Keeping the "3 R's" in mind as a base for how you promote your company can help create a brand you can proud of. It goes well beyond dollars and cents, which to some, has a higher value than money ever will.
