Now that we’ve discussed the why’s and how to’s, let’s review the steps you might want to take in developing your brand identity:

1. Do your homework – collect your strategic plan, mission statement and other key “who you are” documents.

2. Answer any key questions (see Part 2 of this topic) that these documents may have missed.

3. Find out what stakeholders and others think about you. Ask questions, conduct surveys and/or interviews, delve deep.

4. Research other similar or like-minded organizations. Know where you stand in relation to the competition, understand what terminology and images resonate, assess what you like and don’t like about other brands.

5. Brainstorm and play. Get creative and innovative with words, categories, colors, pictures, shapes, ideas.

6. Develop an identifying mark/logo and (optional) slogan for your organization.

7. Document your brand plan and strategy fully. Create guidelines for what you will and will not do in relation to your brand and how the specific mark is represented. Brainstorm all the ways and places you might use your brand and how it support your organization’s goals.

8. Get feedback from internal and external stakeholders as you move forward. Adjust and update accordingly, but always stay true to your mission, goals and character.

9. Consider your brand strategy in all you do – from hiring to fund-raising to marketing to advocacy. Are you consistently representing your organization?

10. And, finally… Don’t be afraid to get help if you need it! Organizations like the Taproot Foundation and other strategic consultancies can help you develop your brand and accompanying materials.

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications

Now, what to do with the results of these questions?

Start by creating a positioning statement (which should dovetail with your mission statement, not replace or alter it) and a set of key messages that you’ll use to talk about your organization (we’ll cover message development more next time). Use this information to help guide and inform the development of logos, slogans and key design elements. Create a set of guidelines that help you be consistent throughout all of your public-facing communications – such as your website, brochures, newsletters, annual report, business cards, fund-raising materials and press releases.

Many think a brand is just a logo, and the work involved in creating a brand or identity is focused around that one single visual image. But as we’ve discussed, a brand is comprised of everything that makes you uniquely you. It’s the outward expression of your organization’s personality – and as with people, having multiple personalities is never a good thing.

A well-defined brand helps you decide where you get involved and where you don’t. It sets the tone for how you communicate with others and for how they perceive you. It enables differentiation across a variety of areas and provides clarity of focus. And, doing the thinking work up front ensures you are consistent and always on point.

There’s a lot of noise out there, and even though we don’t like to admit it, social entrepreneurs and non-profits are often competing for the same dollars and resources. You need to make sure you stand out!

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications

So how do you get started in developing this thing called a brand? It’s time to grab your mission statement, your strategic plan, your staff and your board or other trusted advisors and do a little soul searching...

For starters, here are a few questions to ponder (be aware that, often, asking yourself what your organization doesn’t do can be as powerful and important as what it does do):

- What is your mission and key areas of focus?
- What are your organization’s core values? What are you passionate about?
- What do you offer constituents, the community, the world?
- Who are your key stakeholders (primary, secondary, tertiary)? And who do you leave out of that picture?
- Where do you do your work? Where are your stakeholders located?
- What key programs and initiatives comprise your organization’s activities?
- Are there cultural or language differences amongst your stakeholders or within your organization?
- How do you do your work? What is your organization’s philosophy and/or style?
- What words, images and/or colors describe your organization’s personality? For example, are you solid and time-tested or innovative and cutting edge? Are you global and focused on growth or are you small and neighborly?
- What words, phrases or images would be undesirable or offensive to your stakeholders? (Be sure to think long and hard about this, especially when dealing with international concerns and cultural differences)
- Are there other unique characteristics of your organization, your mission and/or who and what you serve that make you unique?

In your answers to these questions be sure to be brief, thorough, aspirational, forward-looking and above all, authentic. Your brand is what will connect you (or not) to others and it must resonate and ring true.

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications

If you’ve read even a single business book you’ve been veritably beaten about the head and shoulders with the lofty, seemingly all-important and oft-confusing concept of “branding.” Paying homage to this loudly touted marketing concept, many business publications regularly conduct and publish surveys on the world’s most “respected brands,” “most recognized brands,” “most valuable brands,” and the even “most responsible brands” – offering companies public accolades for being well known, well liked and sought after.

This all sounds nice, but sort of begs the question (especially for entrepreneurs focused not on bottom line profits but instead on social issues): So what?

In the end, the concept of branding comes down to a question of identity and clarity. It’s what differentiates, illustrates and compels those who see or encounter it [the brand] to think or feel a certain way, or take action. It allows customers and stakeholders to quickly recognize you and know what you stand for.

Some of the world’s leading brands know well that simply seeing their logo brings to mind a powerful image or creates a specific set of expectations. Think Adidas, Apple, BMW, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Heineken, McDonald’s, Sony or Volkswagen. While you may or may not like their products or visit their businesses, you do know what they do and what they offer.

But why is developing and understanding branding of important concern for social entrepreneurs? If you’re not in the market to become a global entity or enter yourself in the running for most lauded brand, do you need to worry about this stuff? Absolutely.

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications

If you are a social entrepreneur, the place to start is really to define your mission and to work on your strategic plan.

• Who are you as an organization and what are you trying to accomplish?
• How will you get there – on your own, or with donors, sponsors or corporate partners?
• How much money do you need to raise and where will it come from?
• Who and/or what will benefit from your work?
• Who else do you need to involve or reach with your efforts?
• Who do you need to convince to take action?
• How will you measure success?

Getting very clear on this early on will help ensure you understand fully the leverage and resources you will need to fulfill your mission.

Once you have this important information in hand, the way towards achieving your strategic goals with the help of marketing will be much clearer.

But yes, you still have a lot of work cut out for you. And yes, it often costs money. But not always! Some of the next topics we’ll cover in this column will include:
• Development of your organization’s brand and identity (getting clear on who you are and how you differ from other organizations)
• Message creation (how to tell your story clearly and concisely)
• Research (understanding what people really think of you, your organization and your product, issue or cause)
• Stakeholder identification and prioritization (who’s really important to the success of your mission and how will you find them and reach them?)
• Tools and techniques for developing effective communications materials that get results and help propel your mission forward.

And we’ll discuss where and when to invest your marketing dollars as well as how to do things on the cheap.

I’d also like to hear from you. How does your organization utilize marketing and communications? What are your biggest challenges in doing more (and don’t just say budget constraints)? What marketing programs or tools are you currently utilizing? What’s worked best for you to date and what hasn’t? Let’s talk.

For further reading regarding this week's topic, you may want to read this BusinessWeek article.

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications

The world of social entrepreneurship is imbued with many admirable qualities such as passion, values, social consciousness, an emphasis on equity, equality and social justice, and above all, positive social change. These are weighty and important concerns and well worth aspiring to and pursuing.

But somewhere along the way, some of the more “rote” business aspects of the entrepreneurship side of the equation have had their reputations sullied. In our quest for passion and emotion and important do-gooding, we’ve thumbed our nose a bit at one of the things we really need to help fuel the change we seek to unleash. And thus, the area of “marketing” has taken a great hit. This may occur because we’re concerned that utilizing marketing is inappropriate for a social mission or sensitive and serious cause, and perhaps just as commonly, because marketing appears to be prohibitively costly and time consuming.

Ok, but let’s back up a bit. Just what is "marketing" anyway and why should an entrepreneur who is focused on social issues rather than - or in addition to - product or service sales care?

Social entrepreneurs need only look at their mission, strategic plan and near-term objectives (and if they don’t know this stuff by heart, there’s a lot more at stake here than just a marketing plan) to see that there are many areas that marketing can help them achieve specific organizational goals.

Marketing is, at its core, simply a way of:
(a) understanding the needs of your customers and/or constituents
(b) communicating what you have to offer them
(c) finding creative and compelling ways and venues to tell this story and make your case
(d) getting your target audience to do something specific (buy a product or service, give money, volunteer their time, write their congressman, whatever…) as a result of this exchange of information.

Sure, there are other much more elaborate definitions that can be posited, but in the end, thinking simple is often best.

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- Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications