So we have mentioned before how important brand identity is to your business and in generating a name for yourself. So it is equally important to protect your brand. But how do you do this?
Well, there are a host of ways you can protect your brand legally as well as socially. Here we give you our top tips on how to keep your brand protected.
Protect Your Brand
1. Trademark your brand.
The easiest way to legally protect your brand is to trademark it. This eliminates others from ‘stealing’ your name or logo. To do this you need to apply to the Intellectual Property Office. There are online or paper submission forms and you can simply apply via the website or pop a hard copy in the post. Trademarking your brand is not a quick process and can take around two to three months from start to finish in simple cases; therefore it is something worth considering earlier on when thinking about your brand.
2. Have a social presence.
Having a brand presence and protecting that brand is vital, but maintaining that presence in front of your audience is also important. Allowing your customer base to interact with you instantly allows them to feel like they have a voice. Social networks are the most dynamic way to present your brand. It is a living example of who you are as a company and how you treat your customers. Take the time to develop a voice and put your messages and opinions across in an interesting and engaging way. Social allows you to elicit a positive reaction from customers, creating customer advocates and positive customer content.
3. Maximise on your brand name.
Brands such as Intel are well known as they use their brand and logo all the time – you probably even have the logo in your mind right now! The more you use your logo and brand, the more synonymous it becomes with you, if you get others trying to muscle in and take your name, people will associate the name with you, not with the one trying to take credit under your name.
4. Monitor your trademark or brand.
Google Alerts are a great way to do this, as well as ad-hoc internet searches for your brand name – seeing who else is piggy-backing off your brand will allow you to highlight this to the relevant people and get them stopped or removed from either search engines or social platforms.
You spend so much time in your business generating your brand and pushing for it to grow, the last thing you want is another company coming along and jumping on the band wagon of all your hard work. Make sure you look at all the options of how to protect your brand, and by implementing these factors, you should have a positive impact on your business.
