Brand Management: A Full Time Job

*Article written by Karen Compton, A3K Consulting and Industry Speaks, for the A/E Marketing Journal, April 2012, Volume 8, Number 4

The AmericanMarketing Association defines brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. To create a brand, though, you can’t choose one or the other. Your brand must be a name and at least one distinctive feature: the promise that goes with it.  This could be the assurance that a certain orange juice is 100% pure, or that a tennis shoe is made to a certain standard. In short, the brand begins with the mission.

To create a brand, first decide: What is your promise to those who secure your services? In July 2010, I had to answer that question for myself, as phone calls to our offices kept coming in from clients (current or past) looking for consultants with special skills. They asked for marketing professionals, accountants with experience in the FAR, attorneys with specialties in water intrusion, and more. As if I “had the answers,” they were calling me! While each firm’s need was different, every referral request had one common criterion: “They must know our industry.”

We knew the industry, and we saw an opportunity to meet this demand. With a team of dedicated staff, we designed a searchable database that allows firm owners, small businesses, and emerging practices to find consultant and professional resources that fit their needs. They can read or post reviews of service providers or even recommend one. Today, this database is known as Industry Speaks.™ Our tag line is simple: “Consultants that speak your language.”

Before settling on the concept, we challenged our web designer to build a platform and service that would connect individuals in the design profession to service providers in the business environment. He struggled to frame it. But once we settled on the brand and its mission, “to provide expert, independent consultant resources and reviews that allow design and construction professionals to make informed business decisions that enhance their position in a global marketplace,” his job got easier. Industry Speaks™ seeks to keep its promise of being an independent and trusted source of referrals.

Branding it and designing it were easy. The challenge has been making sure to deliver those industry-specific resources.  Our choice of organizational partners, affiliates and consultants has been deliberate and relentless. Our goal has been to reach out to professionals, agencies, and organizations that support the design and construction profession to identify and include a full range of consulting services—accounting, legal, marketing, ownership transition, management and finance—from around the corner and across the country.  Whether a firm seeks to expand or contract, acquire or sell, its ownership shouldn’t have to rely on a Tweet® or a social media post to find the right resource.

So, what does this have to do with you and your firm? Simple. Ask yourself: “What is our  firm’s brand and what is its brand promise?” In today’s competitive environment, where clients have a choice, state your organization’s promise clearly and position your firm to deliver on it every time you develop new work.

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