The simple answer is absolutely! Your brand is something to protect and cherish. You spent how many hours in meetings and workshops pouring over every detail and word related to your brand?  You’ve carefully defined the company’s core values, brand promise, mission, vision and unique selling proposition. You’ve outlined the voice, tone and messaging for your brand too. Not to mention the world’s greatest logo! If you’ve been lost until I mentioned a logo, then perhaps you need to start here. After all, a logo is not a brand unless it’s on a cow.

Your brand is the perception that your customers, competitors, and community have about your organization. How, when and where you talk about your company defines your brand.  Do you use a formal tone in your emails or newsletters? Is it more casual? Do you use Facebook? Or is twitter or snapchat more your style?  Do you use all the colors found in the crayon box or are muted grays and blues more your speed? All of these things influence how you and your brand are perceived. 

If your brand doesn’t resonate with your target audience it will affect the buying decisions they’re making. Buyers today have an endless supply of choices. How can you stay top of mind or stand above the rest? A strong brand helps! So we know that a strong brand is a big deal. But how do you do that?

Consistency is huge when it comes to developing your brand. Let’s take Coca Cola for example. Anyone old enough to remember when they changed the formula? You’d think the world was ending by the public’s reaction. People buy Coke because they know what it tastes like and it’s always the same. Coke would not be such a powerhouse if every bottle or can of Coke tasted differently. Buyers will part with their money more readily if they know exactly what they’re going to get. Sure, we’ll try something new here and there but we just can’t handle the uncertainty in some instances.

So what does all this have to do with a brand manager? A brand manager could mean the difference between a strong brand that resonates and one that misses the mark. Here are six reasons you need a brand manager:

1. Employees want to work for companies they believe in. They want to be proud of what they do. A strong brand with a clear vision gives employees a sense of purpose and understanding about what they do  and how it stands out from the rest. They are more likely to be the biggest advocates for your brand delivering a strong product to your customers.

2. Someone should be monitoring the brand in the short term as well as the long term. How is the brand today and how will it grow with the company tomorrow?
3. Brand managers make sure your brand is consistently represented through the sales process (pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase).
4. A brand manager will be aware of processes and actions of employees throughout the organization to make sure they align with the values of the brand. Think of your best employees. They demonstrate most consistently the core values of your organization.
5. It is the brand manager’s job to maintain a system to define the brand and how it is manifested in all internal or external communications. They are the ones that will make sure you’re using the right logo on your email signature, for example.
6. Those unique selling points that you’ve used to set your organization apart from the competition are the brand manager’s responsibility to see to it that they are upheld and can be proven. Customers want to know that you’re going to do what you say you will. If you say all calls are answered by a real person, then that should be the case.

It’s a big job but someone’s gotta do it! Your brand (and sales) will thank you! Learn more about branding and strategy by downloading our guide.