Friday, November 28, 2014

Brand Building Basics for Beginners

According to Marty Neumeier, "the main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years at a higher price." For beginning entrepreneurs, brand building is an important part of firmly establishing your business within the market. If your business has poor brand recognition, or if you promote an inconsistent brand, you may lose or even alienate some of your best customers. Here are a few basics to help you get your brand off the ground if you are starting from scratch.


What is a Brand?
To put it simply, a brand is an abstract idea that represents what your company stands for. This idea manifests itself in the business actions that you take and are expressed in the way in which you take those actions. Consider for instance, two World-Famous brands in a similar market, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. When you think of The Beatles, you picture four guys with goofy haircuts, that are generally warm, lovable, and safe. On the other hand, when you think of The Rolling Stones, you picture a group of rude, dangerous, unwashed ruffians. Two bands with completely different brands.
Where to Begin
The most successful brands begin by focusing on the company's strengths. Start by thinking about what you are good at, relative to your competition, as well as your core values or what you believe in. For instance, do your products feature a better design? Are your operations more environmentally-friendly than your competitors? Branding is all about finding those differentiating factors in your products or services that really make a difference to your customers.
Building the Brand
Once you have a good idea of what differentiates your business from others in your marketplace, it is time to start consistently promoting it. To do this, you need to focus on serving what your customers desire most, and guaranteeing your ability to deliver that benefit to them. However, promoting an inconsistent brand at times can be as bad as not having a brand at all. Every point of contact you have with your customers, from phone calls, to in-store visits, to letters, to emails, need to consistently promote your brand.
This may mean crafting graphics and ad copy for a variety of media, such as television, radio, online, and mobile. However it should also include creating elevator pitches for your salespeople and training the entire organization in basic public relations and consistent brand promotion.
Managing the Brand

Once your brand has firmly been established, your job is nowhere near over. Consistently monitoring your brand strategy, or hiring a qualified branding agency to do it, has several benefits. For one, you are guaranteed to not have any lapses in your brand, secondly, hiring a branding agency can help you stay ahead of trends, developments, and current events that relate to your business, allowing you to capitalize on each as an opportunity to further promote and strengthen your brand.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Distressed

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                                                                                              slip-ons: h&m,
                                                                                              jeans: zara,
                                                                                              t-shirt: mango,
                                                                                              jacket: zara,
                                                                                              bag: dkny,
                                                                                              watch: michael kors,
                                                                                              ring: parfois,
                                                                                              necklace: vintage,
                                                                                              sunglasses: ray ban,
                                                                                              ph. Masa

I spent lovely weekend with my sisters and aunt, and this is what I picked for a city stroll. Black slip-ons, distressed jeans, plain t-shirt and my favorite jacket so far. Simple and comfortable!
Hope you will like it!



Monday, February 17, 2014

White jeans

 
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                                                                                                  shoes: bershka,
                                                                                                  jeans: zara,
                                                                                                  belt: h&m,
                                                                                                  shirt: thanks to sheinside / here,
                                                                                                  cardigan: non branded,
                                                                                                  bag: dkny,
                                                                                                  earrings: thanks to oasap / here,
                                                                                                  ph. Masa




Cropped white jeans, chunky cardigan and printed shirt were my picks for this warm weekend. I completed the look with statement earrings and embellished belt.
Hope you will like it!

p.s. if you choose simple white pants instead of jeans you can wear it to work, and if you apply smokey eyes make up, add a blazer or leather jacket instead of cardigan you can party all night long! ;)


Friday, February 14, 2014

Slip-ons

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                                                                                             slip-ons: h&m,
                                                                                             jeans: mango,
                                                                                             t-shirt: mango,
                                                                                             bag: dkny,
                                                                                             beanie: h&m,
                                                                                             jacket: thanks to sheinside / here,
                                                                                             rings: h&m,
                                                                                             belt: h&m,
                                                                                             bracelets: stradivarius, oasap,
                                                                                             watch: michael kors,
                                                                                             ph. Masa



I'm always in a search for a pair of good black jeans and here is my latest find. I paired them with new slip-ons which are decent substitute for leopard Celine shoe, added some accessories and my look was ready in less than five minutes!
Hope you will like it!

p.s. let me know if you find black jeans in any other stores, I would love to check them! :)



Thursday, February 13, 2014

Textil workshop

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                                                                                                ph. me


Last weekend I attended Bloggers&designers workshop at Textil company where we got the chance to play with fabrics and pick our favorites for AW2014/15 (you will see mine in their new issue very soon).
We spoke about upcoming trends, design, brands and many other interesting things which are related to fashion. With Prosecco and macaroons at 1:00 pm it was definitely successful Saturday! ;)
Hope you can feel that great atmosphere! :)

p.s. thank you Jelena, Marina, Anja, Mali Iv, Valentina, Marijana, Marko and whole Textil team for a lovely day!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Match me

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                                                                                              ph. me

One of my favorite sources of inspiration is definitely Pinterest! Since I joined this lovely platform I couldn't stop browsing through the gorgeous photos and pinning them.
Lately I have been obsessed with so called "staples" and I wanted to recreate my own version.
I mixed some casual pieces from my wardrobe with sporty items from Adidas which were published last week on their twitter account as my daily "fashion" advice. :)
Comfortable and chic at the same time, hope it will inspire you!


Monday, February 3, 2014

Stella

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                                                                                                coat: zara,
                                                                                                scarf: koan,
                                                                                                sweatshirt: adidas,
                                                                                                bag: dkny,
                                                                                                beanie: h&m,
                                                                                                jeans: zara,
                                                                                                sneakers: adidas by Stella McCartney,
                                                                                                ph. Masa

One beanie, one woolen scarf, three pair of socks, ripped jeans and high top sneakers were my necessities for freezing Sunday!
What were yours?

p.s. do I need to say how much I adore these lovely Stella sneakers? Gray and yellow, perfect match!