appear on the business cards and stationery as well.
* The ease of reading the most relevant information. This is a problem for some organizations, normally service companies, who believe in loading business cards with much more information than is needed. If the card is too crowded, then it will discourage people from reading it and will make it more difficult for the recipient of the card to quickly get the information they need.
* Be cautious on the use of color on business cards. It can make them much less readable than the typical black and white card.
* Do not produce multiple page business cards. In the attempt to communicate a great deal of information sometimes an organization will have a four-sided card which folds to be the size of a traditional business card. Most people do not look favorably on this type of card, as it will not fit easily in wallets, cardholders, Rolodex files, etc.
* Enabling the recipient of the card to be able to be able to write on the back of the card. Some organizations produce business cards on shiny stock that precludes writing on with a normal pen or pencil.
Signage - The fourth component of a brand identification is signage, which is defined as the public display of your name and logo in advertising or marketing vehicles. For example, the Stop & Shop (supermarkets) name is on stores, shopping carts, in store materials, and on trucks and many different types of advertising vehicles. The principles of developing good signage are:
* Easy to read in the media presented (i.e., on truck, billboard, end aisle display, etc.)
* Recognizable as being representative of the organization (i.e., no question that the trucks are delivering products to or from a Stop & Shop store.)
* Consistent with all the other brand identification elements employed.
Packaging - For products that come in an external package, it is important that the look and feel of the package is consistent with the rest of the brand identification elements, and the same criteria apply relative to ensuring success with the brand ID. The package design should communicate the brand identity in the same way as does the other items which carry the name and logo.
SUMMARY – Brand identification is the essence of the equity of any product or service on the market. Your brand ID is your external voice that customers and prospects will identify with well before they have first-hand experience with the actual product or service. Therefore, it is essential to place significant effort against each element of the brand identification program, as it is a permanent part of your marketing program that is difficult, time-consuming and expensive to change. Do it right the first time and it will pay dividends for the life of the venture.
CHAPTER SIX
Researching Your Business and Market
Introduction - One of the most important parts of starting a new business is the research that is done prior to going to market. This is to ensure that you have correctly evaluated the opportunity and have a good sense of both the current business environment you will enter, and what are the keys to success. It is not uncommon for clients to come to SCORE believing they have done research on their project by asking friends or relatives what they think of their idea. As a result of this “research” in most situations they have received glowing responses. This is probably the worst type of “research” that one can do, as friends and family are normally not qualified to evaluate a business idea considering all the important elements, and importantly are unlikely to give an objective response for fear of offending the creator of the new business in the event they feel negative about the idea. One analogy that is very relevant here is to ask you if you ever went to see a new baby and told the parents it was ugly. It is just not something we would do, and the same dynamic operates when asking friends and family for their opinion about a new business idea.
Research as Business Insurance - The role of research in the process of developing and implementing a new business idea should be considered a form of insurance. The more research you do, the better the chance you have of succeeding. The more you know about your product, your market and your competition, the stronger your own introductory marketing plan will be, and the more prepared you will be to enter the market place. Like insurance, you can have too much research, but there clearly is a basic amount of work that needs to be done before you are ready to move forward with your program.
The purpose of this chapter is to (a) discuss the market research options available to a small business relative to the marketplace and the product or service being introduced, and (b) to identify a selection of different research techniques that can be employed to fulfill the
objectives of the market research program.
Categories of Research - There are essentially three types of research that are necessary during introducing a new product or service.
* Market Research - This is research intended to understand the environment in which you are competing by addressing at least the following issues:
-The size and growth trends of the market in which you will be operating. It is important to put this into perspective for a small business. Many, if not most, small entities and start-up companies have a very local focus, anticipating that their business will be generated from a relatively small area from where they are operating. In these situations, the national size and growth of a product or service category is not relevant. For example, if you are opening a dry-cleaning business, you might be concerned with the overall trends in the business on a national level, but the size of the category is important.
-The market dynamics, in terms of how the category operates in terms of how the business is promoted, advertised, etc.
-The keys to success in this product or service business. This is a vital part of the research process, as the identification of the keys to being successful in the organization can dramatically help improve the chances of success.
-The key competitors in the business and how they are marketing themselves to achieve the share of market they have obtained to date. It is vital to fully understand your competition, particularly from the perspective of what they advertise and promote to be their key strengths that they are seeking to communicate to their target audience.
-The key copy points that represent the market position of each of the competitors (we will discuss Positioning in a later chapter). This refers to what the business is trying to communicate to the marketplace in advertising, promotion, packaging, and social media.
-The customer dynamics of the business in terms of the various market segments to which you might consider appealing. This includes such things as buying cycles, key distribution outlets, who is the decision maker for the purchase, etc.
-The unmet needs of the target customers. This might be the most important output of research, as it could direct how you plan to advertise your product to the marketplace. If you can determine what your target customers want, and are not receiving, the chances of a successful introduction are dramatically increased. This, of course, assumes that your product or service can effectively meet that need.
* Product Research - This is a category of research intended to evaluate your idea and to determine whether it is likely to be successful in the market. At a minimum, this class of research should attempt to learn the following:
-General reactions of the target customers toward your product or service.
-Perceived
