Last week, I was sharing about the importance of knowing and establishing what your brand stands on. As a brokerage, we believe this is incredibly important as it protects your values and purpose. Many companies, insurance companies too, thumb suck their values, because they sound nice or look good. This can be dangerous, as its unauthentic. Rather go through the whole process from start to finish.

Having an authentic pillar makes it a strong pillar, thus brand and product extensions happen naturally and have the ability to succeed.

So, what do these extensions look like? In the branding world, a brand extension is “an instance of using an established brand name or trademark on new products”. Today, I’m referring to an extension as an extension of the brand; the different faces of it; aspects. The “outer” aspects or sides that make up a brand. Where the core is an “inner”, the branches are outer as it can be seen and experience by the public.

Kotler and Keller, great branding gurus who are real inspirations to me suggest that there are four aspects that make up a brand. However, I believe differently. Where they say a product is an important aspect of a brand, I say a product is merely a means to fulfil the brands purpose; it’s a fruit of who the brand is.

Think of a tree. A fruit of a tree isn’t the tree. It isn’t the essence of a tree either. It carries the essence (seed), but this doesn’t make it the essence of the trees. The fruit of a tree is a product of healthy roots and an overall healthy tree. An apple tree is still an apple tree even if it’s out of season. A lemon tree is still a lemon tree even when it hasn’t produced lemons yet. A Banana tree is still a banana tree with or without bearing any bananas. The same goes for any great brand. The company should still exist even if there is no product or service.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all saying that businesses should stop delivering their service or product. I’m simply stating that companies shouldn’t confuse who they are for what they do. It can be a rather unpleasant path going down discovering that the market no longer needs your service, but a market will always be inspired by a greater purpose.

So, what are these 3 aspects of a brand and why are they necessary to consider?

Considering these branding aspects helps you understand who your company is, what are company is and the target market for this sort of business. Firstly, consider your brand as a person. Think about this person’s characteristics, traits and personality. Think about the sort of relationship this person has with friends, the community and his/her clients. What are his/her life goals and ambitions?

Secondly, consider your brand as an organisation. What’s its purpose? Does it benefit the community? How valuable is it to the community and is it serving them in any particular way? Will it leave a legacy that has the ability to change the world?

Lastly, your brand as a symbol. What will it be known for? Does it symbolise anything positive? Is it a negative symbol? Is your brand symbolic?

Although JSib is a brokerage, however, their focus isn’t on being a symbol of insurance. JSib is a symbol of peace assurance and security.

I know this is quite a lot to take in and it’s a whole lot easier understanding your brand as a person, organisation and symbol through the use of an example. That’s what I’ll do for you next week. I’ll break down JSib’s brand into these 3 aspects and discuss the insurance brokerage in each facet.

Written by Candice Leigh King