Seven Steps To Protecting Your Brand

When you have a really great brand that speaks to both the heart of what your business offers and what your customers want, then you have one of the most valuable assets possible at your disposal. There are a lot of potential risks to that brand, however. It can be stolen, slandered or undermined, both by outside forces and by you and your team. This article highlights seven steps to protecting your brand from threats.

1. Spread awareness of your brand name

Even if you can’t quite muster the investment necessary to offer your brand the legal protection it needs, you can at least establish your business in the eyes of the consumer. The single best way to do this is by spreading awareness of the brand as best as you can. It could be as simple as using every opportunity you can to communicate your brand message, for example, the use of custom boxes or packaging to deliver products. This also implies ensuring your brand remains visible through social media networking, effective search engine marketing, and positive word of mouth from your customers. As such, should any copycats arise, your customers will be quick to recognize them for what they are and remain loyal to you.

2. Ensure your brand doesn’t leave any wiggle room for copycats

Simplicity can be a powerful tool when used right in branding, there is no denying that. Simplicity can however, become an enemy when you’re looking for legal protection. Copyright protection law applies to everyone, and you don’t even have to register for it. You just have to be able to prove that you came up with a distinct idea first and that it’s unlikely that another company or individual came up with it independently of you. For that reason, brands that use fairly generic logos, with Nike and Rolex being some famous examples, are much easier to copy and get away with, than those that are more intricate. You don’t have to come up with something completely alien or complicated, but originality and detail will help.

3. Get your domain name registered

It happens all too often that a business owner comes up with a business name, starts doing business and builds enough of a following to justify putting up a website. When they try to do this, however, they discover their business name has been claimed by another entity. In most cases, it’s pure bad luck, but there are people who keep an eye out for growing businesses and buy up domain names that could otherwise be associated with them, so that these businesses have to pay a higher amount than they would have, if they want to claim their preferred domain names. Register your business domain name as soon as you can, even if you’re not planning to build a website using that domain just yet.

4. Offer your brand some real legal protection

Brand awareness can offer some protection against copycats, but it’s not as effective as ensuring that it legally belongs to you. When you trademark your business with the help of teams like Alvin Legal (an example), it becomes illegal for others to try and steal or copy your brand too closely, an offense known as infringement. Without a trademark to protect your brand, including your business and logo, another business can snatch them from right under you. If another business trademarks your business name, for instance, you might have to change it so you don’t get charged with infringement. Trademarking is one of the most important investments you can make in your brand.

5. Don’t let your web content get stolen

While it’s not quite the same thing as your brand, the web content you produce, be it text, images, videos, or podcasts, can play a key role in sustaining and supporting your brand. For that reason, it’s important to make sure you’re protecting it. If you have the original claim to a piece of digital content, then a DMCA copyright infringement take-down is the most effective way to deal with it. Essentially, this means launching a take-down request through the platform hosting the content, with many social media, hosting, video sharing, and streaming platforms having a process that makes it easy to request the take down of content that has been taken from you.

6. Don’t let slander stand

Most of the threats to your brand are legal, but there are reputational concerns, too. Not all press is good press and when it comes to business, a bad relationship with your audience can tank your whole enterprise. If there are negative articles and reviews that are accurately and genuinely sourced, then dealing with them with some humility is recommended. Aiming for reconciliation and improvement often guarantees the best outcomes. If individuals or organizations are targeting you maliciously and falsely however, then you do have legal protection to stop that from happening. You can have reviews and posts removed, allowing you to protect your business’ reputation. You can also get more google reviews from your users by using a google review link.

7. Keep things consistent and authentic

You want your brand to be able to stand up to at least some light scrutiny. To that end, you don’t want people to find inconsistencies between your stated values and how you do business. Spend some time taking a look at what values really drive your business and make sure they fit with how you are currently operating. Ensure that those values are stated and applied consistently across the board. Make sure that this consistency applies equally to your brand visuals as well. Inconsistency isn’t just confusing for new customers, but your existing customers aren’t going to appreciate it, either.

The highlighted tips are not the only ones you can follow to protect your brand. Ensuring you deliver the best possible products and services for your customers is just as important. Once you do that, your brand will become even more attractive, making these tips even more relevant to your business.