Buying decisions are almost always influenced by branding. At some level, we all have preconceptions about the value we’ll get when we make a purchase or work with a company. Having certain expectations for a brand is a huge factor in purchasing decisions, even here in NH for a niche market.

Consistent and accurate branding can be a huge factor in stimulating consistent growth for your company. For Sperry Tents Seacoast, founded in 2006, developing a recognizable, distinguished brand – including logo design but also messaging and identity – for our high-end event tent company has been important for our marketing and word-of-mouth referrals. Sperry offers sail-cloth canvas tents that are hand-sewn and crafted by master sailmakers.

But our branding goes well beyond having consistent colors and a professional logo on everything we put out. Our brand is about relationships, how we work with people, and how our representatives present themselves. In addition to the great graphic design Vital provides, we’ve used three key elements for building our brand:

High resolution photos of our event tents

We partner with photographers and are happy to pay for the best shots of our tents, flooring, and lighting in action. We have a vast library of photos to choose from whenever we need to produce marketing materials, a website or an email.

Clean, professional uniforms, vehicles and signage

The Sperry brand means respectful, professional employees who are courteous and treat our clients’ property as if it was their own – but better. You’ll never see a Sperry employee on a job site without a tucked-in collared shirt or a jacket featuring the Sperry logo. Additionally, our trucks are clean, well-maintained and always feature consistent Sperry signage and logos.

Attention to customer service

Sperry Tents Seacoast always has a manager on-site who can make decisions quickly to answer customer questions and take care of concerns. It might be more lucrative in the short-term for us to have fewer staff at each event. But it would be a mistake – and a disservice to our customers – in the long run.

All of these things and many more have helped Sperry build a brand that clients often know before they even see our high-quality canvas tents or hear about our attention to customer service. In short, many of our prospective clients, whether brides-to-be or event and wedding planners, understand that the Sperry brand is a promise of high-end quality as well as a high level of personal customer service.

Sperry has worked closely with Vital Design to help translate the quality products and services we offer into what has become our Sperry brand. But it wasn’t always this way.

The beginning for Sperry was a fast grass roots growth fueled mostly by word-of-mouth referral. As we continued to grow, we looked to organize our unique services and customized approach into a uniform message for consumers and vendors alike. Vital has helped us establish a recognized brand with a clear promise. They’ve also helped translate this promise to our website, our social outposts, and our print and Web advertising.

In the events industry, it is extremely important to stay current and maintain relationships with everyone involved in the event planning process. Our social media and Web presence has also enabled us to keep the conversation alive with vendors and with brides-to-be.

To stay competitive and to really carve out a niche in your industry, a strong, established brand is essential. It’s the face of your company – the first thing prospective clients and your community see. A consistent messaging and brand strategy is about building relationships, trust and credibility so your audience and customers know what to expect from you.

Ideas on simple, authentic ways to build your brand? Please comment below!