BRANDING IS YOUR TICKET TO MORE MONEY AS A WEDDING PRO
BRANDING IS WHY WE PAY DOUBLE FOR THE SAME THING
EXAMPLES
(Image credit Conde Naste)
The Ritz
Old luxury
Traditional
Presitge
The Ritz, where the air smells of old money and the Wi-Fi password is probably “What’s-a-Wi-Fi?” This is the place where everyone's great-grandfather probably owned a shipping empire, and for them, “roughing it” is when the hotel staff doesn’t monogram the towels with their initials. They’re “global citizens,” by which they mean they own properties on every continent, and yet somehow always end up back at The Ritz because, really, why would you slum it anywhere else?
(Image credit: Eater)
SOHO House
Trendy
Creative
Exclusive
The clientele - people who definitely have a screenplay in their tote bag, but it’s more of a conversation starter than an actual screenplay. Everyone’s wearing clothes that are either intentionally distressed or cost more than your rent—sometimes both at once. Half the people are "freelancing," but nobody knows what they actually do. Graphic designer? Digital nomad? Instagram influencer? No one dares ask.
Oh, and don’t forget the weekend DJs who “used to be in finance” but now “just vibe.” They’re probably wearing vintage, even though “vintage” just means they paid £400 for something someone’s grandpa threw away.
BOTH LOVELY HOTELS
VERY different clientele, who value very different things.
And so are willing to pay more the hotel who shares their values the most.
WHAT IS BRANDING IN SIMPLE TERMS?
Branding is essentially when you attach something to your product or service which people then associate it with.
You do this because you want your values to align with the values of your target audience.
For example, Converse post photos of skaters and young carefree people who embrace their individuality because they want to attract those types of people.
As opposed to Nike, who want to attract athletic people who want to train and in their words ‘just do it’.
They market their trainers for sports and Converse market their trainers for care free laid back fashion.
If someone values sports more than fashion they will choose Nike.
The reason branding is so powerful is because it takes a commodity e.g. a trainer and turns into something highly valuable which people are willing to pay up to 10x more for.
It makes people feel like they BELONG in your tribe.
BRANDING WILL
Help you deeply connect with your audience which in turn, means they are willing to pay more for you.
Helps you stand out from the competition when you don’t have a unique selling proposition.
Allows you to charge up 10x the industry standard because your perceived value is so high.
When customers see your brand as part of their lifestyle or self-image, they perceive it as more valuable.
Make selling easier because people are already very aligned with your core beliefs.
BRANDING WILL NOT
Fix a poor product or service.
Fix your traffic problem. In order to get people to notice your brand you still need to drive traffic.
Make everyone like you - in fact, when branding is done right it usually means that a lot of people won’t like you. Getting people to LOVE you, inevitably means you share opinions which make some people hate you. That’s good, it’s better to have a group of people ADORE you and a small group you hate you, rather than to have lots of people think you’re just ok and vanilla.
HOW DO I ‘BRAND’ MY WEDDING BUSINESS?
Think about what you value and think about what your ideal customers value.
Now think of 3 words which represent that.
Now repeat those 3 words in your marketing through images, words, concepts, opinions and quotes over and over and over again.
Until you become known for that thing.
DO YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR BRANDING?
I am a brand strategist with 10 years of experience who would love to help you.
