Use Branding to Sell Your Mosaics (part 2)

In part 1 of this article we discussed what a brand is and gave some examples of the brands of mosaic artists. In part 2 you will get information on how to build and manage your brand. And you get our guarantee that this just scratches the surface of the topic of branding. Like mosaics, you can dig into its nuances forever.

There are 5 objectives that should be pursued in the branding of your product (art or instruction), your company (studio), or you as a person.

1) a brand should seek to create immediate recognition of its subject.

2) the branding effort should create favor in the minds of its target market. To do that you, of course, have to first define the market with geographic, gender, age, preferences and other descriptors.

3) your brand should clearly differentiate you and your art from all the other mosaic artists. There is only one you, but you have to figure out what differences you and your art have that are meaningful in the minds of your target market.

4) communicate the value in your offering and the values in your person.

5) your brand must consistently affirm your positioning statement (the statement of how you want your target market to describe you when you're not around).

The starting point is defining your "brand identity." There are a few essential topics for you to take note of. First is the recognizable aspects of the brand i.e. logo, color scheme, fonts, and the way your art is presented. Next is the personality of your communication with the target market. Should it be playful, irreverent, subdued, etc.? Third are the principles that guide the behavior of the brand.

Another thought to take note of is what type of relationship between people should symbolize your brand? For example, should the relationship be like friends, teacher-student, host-guest, and so on? Fifth, what is the most stereotypical buyer? And finally, how do the buyers view themselves, i.e. sophisticated and worldly, adventurous, etc.?

Next, is to clarify your vision statement. Describe what you want your company to become (what do I want to be when I grow up?). In this, consider what will make you unique.

Now clarify your mission statement; it defines the purpose of the company and how you will become what you have envisioned.

This is where you take all that information and distill it. This is where it starts to get powerful like other distillates. There are a couple of exercises that are helpful. One is to describe your brand in 3 words. Another is to describe the personality of your brand if it were a person. Once you have distilled all your other thoughts, you can begin to apply your conclusions to the tools you will use for brand management.

First is your logo. What you have concluded should guide the use of colors, shapes, lines, and fonts.

You need a tagline that uses no more than 7 words and fewer is better. As you continue to develop your brand you will apply these ideas to your website, social media pages, blog, and any other marketing efforts you pursue.

Finally, you should take the information you developed and draft a guide for the customer experience you want to create. It includes how they interact with your product, the value they perceive in it, how you will be easy to do business with, and how you will deliver a service that makes your customer a fan.