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 5797 Beautiful French Cabinet with Wedgewood Plaques  US $22,500.00
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 Beautiful Dinnerware Service for 12 Wedgwood Florentine Gold US $2,000.00
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 Beautiful Wedgwood Turkey Platter and Plates US $1,850.00
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Your Brand, Your Business, Your Beautiful Product
Beautiful forms and compositions are not made by chance, nor can they ever, in any material, be made at small expense. A composition for cheapness and not excellence of workmanship is the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire destruction of arts and manufactures." ~ Josiah Wedgwood
Branding isn't a new concept; it isn't even a centennial concept. In fact, branding started back in the ancient days of Babylon, Greece and Rome, when men wore dresses (sure, they called them togas) and the term "Spartan" was coined.
Potters carved their initials, symbol or recognizable mark in their handiwork. Gold and silversmiths marked their work; papermakers left watermarks. Cattle and other livestock have worn literal brands since 2000 BC, if not before.
Why? What did a brand mean to our ancestors?
For cattle, it was a mark of ownership. Their unique brand made it easy to recognize a rancher's livestock (because all cows look alike, you know) in the event that the livestock strayed or were stolen. If they sold good milking cows or healthy livestock for food, that unique symbol became a sign of trust. You always know you have a good milking cow if it wears the XYZ Ranch brand.
Marks made by the crafter of a product were used for the same thing plus some. For example, Josiah Wedgwood was a master potter who sold high quality work. British nobility bought from him, as did an Empress of Russia. Josiah's pottery brought high acclaim and several reproductions. Many people tried to replicate both his work and his branding mark – because Wedgwood pottery meant high quality.
While there are many other examples, Josiah Wedgwood is also an excellent example because of another relevant creation of his: direct marketing. Credited as the inventor of modern marketing, Josiah set out to find new ways to get products sold after he lost his leg to a childhood disease. He couldn't turn a potter's wheel after that, but he sure could turn a phrase (pardon the pun).
So what does all this have to do with you? What does it have to do with modern day branding? What does it have to do with your products?
Brands Still Mean the Same Thing
In ancient days, that unique mark meant more than, "yeah, that's my cow". It also meant:
- "I made this product."
- "I'm responsible for this product if something goes wrong."
- "This product has passed my quality assurance test."
- "You've used this product before, liked it, and now recognize my brand as one you can trust."
Isn't it amazing how brands have carried over the same ideas today? Brands are valued for exactly these reasons. A brand is more than your company logo; it incorporates everything you want consumers to feel about your business.
Lessons in Branding
Josiah Wedgwood taught more than how to make high quality pottery. He also taught life lessons that any marketer or business owner should pay attention, such as finding branding opportunities everywhere. Building on success, in other words.
After selling a set of pottery to the queen, he began calling himself the "Potter to Her Majesty". He changed the product name from "creamware" to "Queen's Ware". What happened? People bought the Wedgwood Queen's Ware because royalty bought it, never mind that it was also beautiful and utilitarian. The man was a marketing genius.
Here are a few more branding lessons you might want to keep in mind:
- "Branding" is interchangeable with "reputation". When you say, "I'm building my brand", what you really mean is you're building your reputation. What does your reputation say about you?
- Branding happens whether you mean it to or not. Just by running a business and selling a service/product, you're developing your brand. If you don't plan and work towards building a positive one, you end up with whatever your buyer or – oh horrors! – your competition defines for you.
- Colors say something about your brand. Oh my, yes, it's true. Rather than try to add more to the content mill about branding and colors, let me point you toward Your Brand's True Colors. Even though it's a few years old, the article's information is still highly applicable.
- Get emotional. This doesn't mean cry and blubber because your brand got a bad review or so-and-so said they don't like you. This means create an emotional connection. Don't just pretend to understand your consumers' pains… really take the time to try and understand. Brainstorm:
"Okay, I'm the consumer. I step in my house and it reeks. My carpet is dingy, spotted and smells like dirty feet. I can't get the smell out of my nose. I really need a carpet cleaner that will take care of the smell and bring back the brighter colors without the carpet matting up."
Ad: Tired of smelling dirty feet when you walk in the house? Bring back brighter colors and a fresh home with Clear Colors Carpet Cleaner – guaranteed to have your carpet looking (and smelling) brand new.
- Mona Lisa your branding. I came across this very inspirational article while (gasp shock) looking for inspiration for this one. The article is about creating curiosity with your brand, process, product, etc. Any article that starts out with "Have you mistakenly trained your branding to fall over and play dead?" is a must read in my book.
Take time with your brand. Decide what you want to say and how you're going to say it. Much like when branding cows, you're pretty much stuck with the mark you make on the buying world. Taking the branding part of your business lightly is a good way to find yourself singing for your supper.
In conclusion, remember that your company brand is extremely important. It signifies to the consumer everything positive (or negative) about your company, product, service, etc. You can't afford to treat it as an unimportant nonentity that just "happened" to come along.
About the Author
Justin Brown is the owner of several websites. He has been working for 18 months in the Internet Marketing field, and earning a full-time income while doing it.
Wedgwood home for sale in Seattle north of University of Washington
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5797 Beautiful French Cabinet with Wedgewood Plaques US $22,500.00
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