Task 4: The brand

Mission statements - A mission statement is a sentence or short paragraph which lays out what the business is trying to achieve, how its achieving that why. The mission statement should incorporate the business' ethics and values with its goals, which is important as it helps investors, employees and the wider community align themselves with the business' agenda through shared values.

Brand positioning - Brand positioning is how the consumer perceives the brand and its identity. A way to adjust your positioning within the market is to change your identity to a selection of key unique themes which you can inject into your brand image through advertising, product design and a website or social media page. These themes should resonate with your own values as well as appealing to the values your primary demographic. There are strong ties to consumer loyalty to the brand based off of the brands positioning, and this is important for public awareness, returning consumers and establishing an image within the community.

Values and drivers - A business' values are the principles on which the business is built upon. These values should be the driving force behind the business' decisions going forward across all functions from hiring staff to making financial decisions, especially taking consideration of the core values of the list which the companies brand will be built around. Business drivers can be a process, resource or a condition which affects a business directly or otherwise. It is the job of the business to identify, analyse and then harness these drivers for optimum output and business growth.

Ways of marketing - Marketing is important for any business type and there are many ways to do it whether you’re an individual or an organisation. A good way to market yourself is to set yourself apart from the competition and focus on a specific demographic rather than appealing to multiple groups of people. In the Information Age there are many ways to market yourself, ranging from the traditional ways of advertising on TV or through posters and billboards to now using social media and mailing lists online to reach out to the whole world if need be.

Business blueprint - The business blueprint is a compilation of documents which provides direction in the success of a business while laying out a life plan to anyone who takes over the business to do it smoothly and effectively. The blueprint is vital for managing staff effectively as well as predicting growth so that the business is fully prepared to deal with increases or decreases in demand and to make sure that none of the staff are being overworked.

The materials of a blueprint can be translated into training manuals for new workers, which is important for the customer as they can be guaranteed the same level of service each time they work with the business. Another blueprint a business needs is a marketing blueprint, which focuses on brand perception from a customers point of view to strategise the businesses customer relations. Use of a marketing blueprint can assist in the prediction of business growth vital to the business' blueprint and model, allowing them to keep on top of work and supply.

references: 

Investopedia - mission statement

The Branding Journal - brand positioning

Queensland government - Business values

Techopedia - Business driver

CMG Consulting - Components of an effective marketing plan

How to Entrepreneur - What is a business blueprint?

The Economic Times - The need to have a marketing blueprint