The Business of Branding
- By Megan Weadock
- Apr 16, 2012
As any fan of Coca-Cola, Nike, Google or Apple knows, a strong brand presence can work wonders for a company.
As a home security dealer, the right approach to branding can help you grow your business with both new leads and referrals. All it takes is a commitment to leverage your brand, clearly and consistently, as much as possible.
Why Branding Works
Impactful advertising creates an emotional response in consumers, whether it’s happiness, a sense of security, amusement, or even fear.
As consumers, we’re constantly bombarded by advertisements and brand images. But the truly successful brands out there stand apart from the rest. They have the power to convey -- often in a single image -- a certain feeling or solicit a specific memory or response.
Security dealers can achieve this type of instant brand recognition as well. Even small, local businesses can benefit by building their brand.
“Consistency brings recognition and credibility,” said Renee Mallonee, manager of dealer marketing at Monitronics. “The more your brand can remain top of mind, the more you’ll be called upon as the company of choice.”
Simple, powerful brand images that recur consistently and reliably over time begin to solicit the desired response from customers -- and help to solidify a company’s image in their minds.
“In our daily lives, we are exposed to so many messages and distractions,” Mallonee said. “It’s important for your brand to stand for one thing, with a consistent look, feel, and messaging to help rise above the clutter and aid in customer recall.”
Getting the Word Out
These days, branding goes well beyond creating a clever name and logo for your company. It’s about establishing a clear, strong presence that succinctly describes your company and consumers’ need for your services.
Think about the many “touchpoints” potential customers could have with a company name and logo -- from their neighbor’s home security sign to television ads to vehicle wraps, a broad range of advertising methods can really help to spread the business’ popularity.
“The more opportunities you have to reach your audience, with a consistent message, the better,” Mallonee said. “People respond to different messages and marketing mediums. Some may see your phone number on your van while stuck in traffic, others may see their neighbors yard sign. You never know what exactly will make customers make that final buying decision -- but you want to assist that behavior in every way possible and remain top of mind.”
The Monitronics Dealer Program provides a range of marketing materials to its dealers, with branding options to fit any size business. The company’s ProShop offers branded materials to help get a dealer’s name and logo out there, in front of as many potential customers as possible. Dealers can brand or co-brand anything in the store, as well as choose from advertising options that include print ads, ValPacks, doorhangers, billboards, radio scripts, T-shirts, signage, and presentation materials.
Monitronics’ ProShop, which was recently revamped to include high-quality Lands’ End apparel and promotional items, provides dealers with hundreds of branding and co-branding options. And because the company’s dealer program is designed to be flexible, Monitronics dealers can present their brand as Monitronics, co-branded with Monitronics, or entirely independent.
Building Trust
An effective marketing presence can go a long way toward building a feeling of trust and security with your customers and prospects.
The topic of home security is very important to home- and business-owners. For families, especially, security strikes people at an emotional level. This makes them more likely to seek out companies that they feel are stable, trustworthy, and approachable.
“Seeing a consistent message each and every time infers a stable company,” Mallonee explained. “And stability leads to trust, which is what people look for when they consider a company, especially a security company. That’s why in the marketing world, we rely on reinforcement.”
As a home security dealer, it’s important to capitalize on the local aspect of your business. Being part of a nationwide dealer program like Monitronics gives dealers stability and broad technology options. But having the flexibility the run your business the way you want gives you the opportunity to build a local following—especially in communities where people are loyal to small business.
“The size of your company doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to branding and creating a presence that really connects with people,” said Bruce Mungiguerra, vice president of sales and dealer development at Monitronics. “If your brand, your business, conveys safety, security, and stability, people will identify that and seek you out.”
Mallonee agrees that the local aspect of a business helps to develop trust with customers.
“Local often equates to trust and personalized service, which people like and respond to,” Mallonee said. “That is the best thing a local dealer can leverage: local and personal service. With Monitronics, that can be done by easily branding your own marketing materials on our ProShop: yellow page ads, door hangers, direct mail postcards.”
Establishing Your Identity
Dealers should seek out a monitoring partner that empowers them to choose their own brand, identity, and marketing approach. These key decisions will ultimately help determine the success of your company -- which is why it’s important for the dealer to be in control.
“It’s your business – we respect that and want to help you promote that,” Mallonee said. “It’s important to build your brand to continue to build your business. We are here to make that happen. We’re a team and want to make this a win-win for both you and Monitronics; that’s why we focus on offering our dealers ways to customize their own marketing pieces through our ProShop and dealer marketing staff.”
Monitronics’ dealer marketing staff supports dealers by providing marketing consultation and advice on building their brand and business. They work to fully understand a dealer’s business and background, as well as their goals for the future. Then, they develop to create a customized approach that will help the dealer flesh out an effective brand identity. This is the type of support that dealers should seek out, for the sake of their brand and their business.
“The Monitronics Dealer Program that lets you do your own thing at all levels -- even when it comes to branding,” Mungiguerra said. “We want to empower our dealers to grow their business the way they want. Because, in the end, that will help make them, and us, more successful.”