Brand Your Business Right

Perhaps, like me, you reassessed your priorities during the Easter break? The holidays are an ideal time to take stock and fine tune goals. 

One change I intend to make is to just send a weekly newsletter. I have lots to do increasing my presence on YouTube and resuming the podcast. 

Today I’d like to mention something I’ve often discussed before. That is, the importance of incorporating brand protection strategy in your business and brand strategy. 

What that looks like, is appreciating that brand protection goes beyond just having legal clearance searches and registering trademarks.

Brand protection considerations should influence decisions about your name or other identifiers. 

A brand is intellectual property, so it makes sense to consider IP when developing it, so you create a valuable business. 

This is explained more in my recent video on YouTube: How Business Design Impacts Success. 

Among other things, correct branding involves taking account of legal availability and legal effectiveness before finalising decisions. It’s awkward to change a name or other signs once you’ve fallen in love with them and launched. 

Don’t adopt the approach of the Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs of this world who choose whatever branding they like. They have the financial means to buy their way out of problems when they make ill-advised decisions. 

Small businesses lack the financial resources to shell out significant sums just to secure a name. They need to approach branding differently. You need an open mindset and not to get fixed on one name. There are so many alternative names that could work just as well. 

Be risk averse, and strategic so you look ahead at the implications of particular choices before finalising decisions. 

Work with a brand lawyer when you’re designing your business and brand. You need guidance from someone who understands the ‘what and why of brands’, so you choose marketing friendly names that are ownable, and easily enforceable against copyists. 

Had Tesco involved a brand lawyer, the company might have avoided using an inadequate name like Clubcard. They might  have instead chosen a stronger name like Tescocard, and saved a Million Pounds or more in the process. 

Bear in mind that brand protection considerations are similar the world over. It’s not about knowing the specific laws of a given country, so much as understanding the approach of the law to business design. 

I could support your branding initiatives whichever country you’re located in because thanks to international treaties between nations, the legal approach is similar worldwide. 

Watch my YouTube video Brand Your Business Right as a reminder of the importance of correct business design when choosing brand names, and other signs and symbols.