Branding with Ayesha Mathews~Wadhwa

Having a unique branding message and being able to deliver it affectively, it key to having a successful business branding plan. To help business owners understand the importance of an effective business branding plan, I recently interviewed Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa who is the owner of PixInk.info.

Below is the interview that I conducted with her via TwitInterviews.com recently. Once you have read over the interview, please feel free to leave your feedback and also contact Ayesha for more details on how she can help you develop a business branding plan.

Question 1: Welcome to your #TwitInterview. Please introduce yourself and the key areas of your expertise? How long have you been involved in this area?

Hi Kim! Thanks so much for having me here – this is such a great format  I’m Ayesha Mathews~Wadhwa, Principal & Creative Director at PixInk – A boutique design practice with expertise is Branding and Design – something I’ve loved doing for the last 10 years

Question 2: What are the top 3 tips on branding that a business owner should know and how should they implement them?

That’s a great question Kim. First, very simply I want to explain – What is Brand/Branding?

A brand is an idea about your product or service that lives in the heart & mind of your customer. All of you entrepreneurs I know have the start of a strong brand..but what do you do to differentiate/ make it truly yours? What you want to be is a charismatic brand… that’s one that people believe have NO substitute.

What’s Branding? Branding is the art and science of bringing a brand into the world and helping it thrive..its the sum total of your offering, your visual identity, your communication & packaging and your customer relationships. eg: Brands that gets branding right? Virgin. Apple. Oprah. Madonna and I’m going to add Savor the Success to this list 
So Top 3 things to remember while branding your company?

1. Have an AWESOME product that delivers high value.
2. Build on your CORE VALUES
3. Create and engaging branded EXPERIENCE for your customer

Question 3: When should a business start to think about “branding” their business services or products? Why is it important to “brand” your business?

It important to cultivate and nurture your brand as it grows and that’s why I say branding your business is like raising your kids.. you cannot start paying attention to them suddenly when they turn 20! Why is this important..because in today’s hyper saturated marketplace only those business who clearly identity their product offering and value and communicate this to the consumer in a consistent engaging way (brand language) will thrive – again the point is to be a charismatic brand – one that people believe has NO substitute.

Question 4: You are sharing great branding information. Please share specific examples of effective brands/brand strategies?

I love and follow brands that speak to the customer at every touch point – Engage them – right from the time you hand over your biz card or welcome someone at your website or on a shelf at retail: Virgin & Apple are great examples of this. In fact, I’ve never paid attn to the InFlight Safety Procedure Video till Virgin America came out with its version! And I want to make it clear that great branding campaigns don’t necessarliy have to come from Fortune 500 companies with Fortune 500 budgets. In today’s economy Small Biz and Start-Ups are poised to capitalize on the opportunity to grab market share – CD Baby and Savor the Success are both young companies in the midst of developing compelling brand language and value!

Question 5: How does Branding play a part in the social media landscape?

That’s a great topic .. one of the reasons the social media landscape is so powerful is because it the first time in history when brands are now shaped by the customer versus the “marketing department”..I love this because it forces brands to stay authentic and provide value. And ultimately a Brand is not what you (the marketing department) says it is…its what they (the customers) believe it is and what better way than social media to gauge the pulse of a brand? directly interacting with customers..getting reviews, feedback and testimonials from people you know and trust is an incredibly powerful ingredient in the brand spectrum..this landscape forces brands to be true to what they should really focus on – giving the customer/client great value.

Question 6: One final question. Please share how you work through your company, PixInk, to help company’s brand their services and products?

PixInk is passionate about nurturing brands and creating rich, insightful and emotionally resonant visual communication.

Our strategy and creative work has led to successful interactive and marketing implementations for clients ranging from Fortune 500s to start ups, including Apple, Oracle, Cat Footwear, Harley Davidson, Skin by Alison Raffaele, MTV Style (India) and Picaboo to name a few.

I’m especially committed to the next evolution in the branding spectrum – Rich Branding i.e the ability to get under the skin of a brand and extract all of the most evocative, engaging elements — and present those in a visually compelling manner, while speaking in an authentic brand voice consistently. I truly believe a great brand is like a great person – evolving elegantly through time and culture.

Question 7: Thank you for allowing me to interview you. Please share how you can be contacted.

Kim – thank you for having me and allowing PixInk to share some insights with your community here on Twitinterviews  I can be reached at: ayesha@pixink.info. Look forward to hearing from you!
To your continued success.
Ayesha