When starting up a new business, branding is the key to success—especially in terms of the company’s name—to start with. What is the nature of the business and which words produce associations which can help develop this? In many cases, you will be trying to look like your embryonic business already has critical mass—credibility, size—so adding ‘international’ or ‘global’ can help. Can a small business, with the clever use of branding, scale up or, due to the nature of the business, stay just one? Sometimes, a business can become more than this—but sometimes it is hard to grow.

Conversely, many big global giant corporations wish they were not. They may have accumulated a reputation for faceless bureaucracy, soullessness —and have been embroiled in embarrassing scandals along the way. Monolithic, impersonal and known for wasting resources and abusing the environment, they have turned to branding as a tool to help them achieve a rejuvenating make-over. Trying to be smaller, through being divided into more acceptable, attractive and brandable chunks—may be the answer.

We all want to build brand equity—but it must be just that—equity or at least having some value. Over time, branding helps all organizations to achieve just this—but it must be deliberate, well-managed and appropriate. Otherwise, a company can experience a bell curve-type progression from, at the start, being only developmental, and then becoming optimal in size and product portfolio, and finally over-the-top and potentially out-of-control. One size does not fit all!

Effective Executive Magazine, Role of Branding, Embryonic Business, Wasting Resources, Global Giant Corporations, Organizations using Branding, Intermediary business.