Questions have been coming in asking what is “Brand” in marketing and frankly, most people tend to find it difficult to differentiate it from its closest term which is a “logo”. so today, we are going to clear the air by talking about what branding really is.
Branding has been something companies and business owners have been taking part in and as a result, it has brought more exposure and sales to their company and has taken their name far and wide. Anyone who ventures into marketing branding expects profit, popularity, and patronage from customers and wants his or her business to excel beyond expectations. Truthfully the only way to achieve such a goal is through branding.
When we hear or talk about branding, we immediately picture a logo, wordmark, or generic icon that a business or company uses. But unfortunately, that isn’t a brand at all. A logo or wordmark is just a fragment of the whole branding thing, the brand has more than what meets the eye.
The brand is the feeling or emotion a customer has towards a particular product or service, it is that feeling that drives him or her to purchase a particular product even when there are other similar or even better products in the market.
History Of Branding
The word “Brand” is derived from the word “Brandr”, meaning “to burn” in the Ancient Norse language. Branding has been in practice for about 2,700 BCE in Egypt, cattle owners used branding to help identify ownership of their livestock and this was done by using a hot iron to burn into the skin of their cattle.
This was done to avoid livestock mix-up in open space, cattle theft, and proof of genuine ownership. Branding started taking different forms and shapes over time and it was later applied to other products and services like; wine, food packaging, shirts, and so on.
But today it has escalated into a much broader practice and it’s now applied to a wide array of business sizes and types – whether big or small. Business owners, companies, and individuals can now be branded.
Definition Of Branding
Firstly, people mistake branding to be a logo, an icon, or even a trademark, which seems to be far off from what branding really is. A logo is just an element that is part of the whole branding process that identifies a company or a business uniquely.
A logo can be imagined to be like a profile picture on a Facebook wall which will be used as a unique identifier to tell that Mr. A is different from Mr. B. Thinking of starting an online business or brand? before you do check out how much a logo design costs in 2023
Branding has no universally accepted definition but surely has one clear goal in mind which is to plant an emotion, a feeling, or a customer’s user experience after consuming your product and anticipate coming back regardless of the fact that your competitors have similar products to offer.
Marty Neumeier
According to Marty Neumeier (author of the Brand Gap), he said that a brand “is a customer’s gut feeling about a company’s product or service. They take whatever raw material you throw at them and they make something out of it”.
A brand is what a person feels basically without much logical rationale, the individual instantly gives whatever perception he or she feels about the company or the business, the reputation and the achievement that a company has accumulated over time, and how it has impacted the lives of those people who used your product, what addition the brand has put out to the culture and the message it carries along with it.
All of these are what makes a brand stand out and maintain its authority and power in the mind of the individual.
Debbie Millman
According to Debbie Millman a design strategist, an author, and founder and host of Design Matters which is the longest-running podcast. And Debbie also co-founded the world’s first graduate program in branding at SVA; which is the School of Visual Arts in New York.
She defines branding as “a manufactured meaning. It is something that humans create in an effort to define and designate what something means, and you then communicate that via deliberate differentiation”.
Importance Of Branding
Trust
When establishing a business, you don’t only want your customers or prospects to just buy your products or services and leave once and for all, You always want them to have a sense of trust in your brand and always come back for more future purchases. Trust is something we humans find difficult to give towards people or things so it is advised to apply it when creating a new brand in the market.
So having customers who trust your brand is highly valuable and crucial for your business.
Loyalty
There should be loyalty from your brand to your customers or prospects, a marketing brand that has its customers in mind and is willing to answer the call from its customers at every point in time is one step further in achieving the purpose of “A Brand”, and rest assured to succeed in acquiring more customers.
Loyalty is also shown from the side of the customers, The customers will always be there for you through thick and thin after you have shown them a reason to care. Let’s take Nike for example, Nike being one of the best producers of sportswear and fashion merchandise, tend to have a diehard customer base that is ready to stick with them unconditionally at every point in time.
Protection
With a well-established brand, it will be difficult for other businesses to try to manipulate your products or services, a company that is well branded has very low chances of being counterfeited and as a result, if not protected it can be n ripped off of its hard work and its glory in the market. Brand protection helps to distinguish similar or counterfeit-intended products from the original ones. These protection measures can be taken through the placement of a brand’s unique identity or logo on its product.
Recognition
A business can be established and yet not be recognized because of it not being branded properly or even not being branded at all. With the millions of businesses created every day, only a few are able to be recognized. Branding helps your business to show up on your target demographic’s radar, it is an easy way to showcase yourself publicly and when it’s done right, it brings in more sales and increases profit.
Deliverance
You always would want to deliver whatever proclamation that you have given to your customers while creating your brand and this is very important because your customers chose you over others because of those promises you’ve made to them and they expect you to deliver them. And always remember not to make promises you can’t fulfill.
When you deliver your promises to them you are simply restrengthening the trust and loyalty that they have for you.
Brand Authority
The business market is full of brands including the good, bad, and ugly, but it takes more than just creating a business to have a strong authority in this pool of business owners. It takes more strategic planning, effective ad campaigns and so many more to be able to hold a strong authority in the business world.
When your brand has so much authority, you will attract more investors, more customers, profits, trust, stakeholders and so much more. Even in our modern internet age, only the strong and powerful brands show on the SERP (search engine result page) when you search for a product on google.
Employee Motivation
Brands don’t always affect only the customers or prospects, it also affects how the employees behave, their mental and emotional condition at the workplace. The kind of persona a brand gives to itself should be the same persona the employees are going to put on themselves. because when you see the employee, you’ve seen the brand.
Investment Opportunity
Good brands are always eyed by huge investors to invest their big money and gain profit, they see successful brands as gold mines that can be tapped and also be used as a medium to drive their own business forward.
When your brand is well established, companies and business owners from inside and outside your market geographical region would want to invest in your company thereby making it more famous and profitable for you and your investors alike.
Increases profit
The overall endgame of every business owner is to make money from his or her business and frankly speaking, that’s the reason why you are here reading this article. When you brand your business, you want people to feel and have an emotion that will drive them to buy your product thereby making you profit. Although we know that a brand is a company’s achievement; its reputation in people’s heads, how they feel when they see your product, what the brand has added to the culture, the messaging the brand is putting out. But in the end, what is made is profit. but in the end, it is the profit they make.
New Customer Attraction
Good brands bring in new customers while bad brands do the opposite, it’s as simple as that. When you create that killer brand that gets in the mouth of everyone and they talk about how good your brand product is to their family members, their friends, co-workers, and colleagues. Trust me, you are assured to have new customers flooding your store to check what’s in for them and probably becoming lifetime brand lovers.
What Are The Elements Of Branding?
Elements of branding are those tangible and intangible components that create the whole feeling that your customer gets, their perception of how they see your brand, and what it stands for. The brand strategy of any company is made up of these various elements.
Brand identity
Your brand identity, logo, or trademark is the first thing your customers come in contact with when they first use your service or product. Your logo is simply a visual trademark and also is a very important element in your brand which is used to distinguish your company from other companies using a unique visual representation.
It is true that companies make changes to their brand elements from time to time because of the constant evolution of the market nature, new styles come in, and the introduction of new products to the market. This prompts action for a rebranding takes place just like Facebook’s rebranding to a new brand name- Meta. However, the company could make changes to various elements of its brand visuals but the logo still remains the same.
Brand persona
The brand persona is how you want your brand to be perceived by customers in terms of character. The personality and traits a brand have, just like the one a real person has. The brand persona really affects how its been perceived by customers and thereby increases the love your target customers have for your brand and also increases the brand equity.
Let us take, for example, a celebrity like Beyonce has characteristics that are loved by her fans, they pledge that love towards her, and support her in every way they could, the same applies to the brand persona.
Brand color
The color of your brand is a very important part of what makes you stand from the crowd. The color palette used by your brand sends a particular tone to your targeted audience, the color you choose for your brand affects how the customers will perceive you in terms of trait and personality.
Color has a way of inducing a particular feeling when it’s encountered. Human psychology has a way of giving meaning to color subconsciously so when choosing your color, choose it wisely.
Popular brands like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, MacDonald, and Target. They all have a color that represents who they are and what they do. you can read more about colors and their meaning in our other blog posts to help guide you when choosing the right color for your brand.
Brand voice
Every successful brand has a tone of voice that it uses to communicate with its customers, the voice of the brand influences how your customers hear you, and the language style used in speaking with them.
Just as we talked about brand persona previously (which is the personality kind of representation your brand puts on), on the other hand, the brand voice is the tone you want your customers to hear you with.
Brand positioning
Just imagine the millions of brands that are been created daily and they all are vying for customers’ attention but unfortunately, only the best brands are noticed. For you to get the attention you require for your brand, brand positioning is what you should take into account when planning your strategy.
The strategic style in which you position your brand in the market sphere is what keeps it going for a longer time. The marketing, communication, and advertising strategies are what make it distinct and stand out from the rest.
Brand image
The brand image is the way the target customer sees you in their mind and the position you hold in the marketplace or among other brands. The perception people have towards a brand makes them have an emotional feeling whenever they purchase your product or make use of your services. It is the accumulated beliefs that a consumer has about you over a period of time, the ideal image they have about you in their mind.
Brand equity
Brand equity is simply the commercial value a brand has in the marketplace, its recognition as a result of the quality, durability, promises (fulfilled), etc. A brand with positive equity attracts more investors, price increment of products, market value, etc.
Brand extension
When a brand becomes too big and famous for its market geography, at this point, a brand can decide to move into another region for its extension to acquire more customers and sales and thereby increase profits.
For example- the Coca-Cola brand which started in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886 has expanded its brand power across the world.
Brand experience
The brand experience is the overall feeling and impression a customer has towards a brand and this overall feeling or impression is drawn from the activities that go on between your brand and each customer that comes in contact with it.
The experiences could be in terms of customer service, delivery time, brand tone, etc.
The experiences a customer had with a brand will stick in their mind for a long period and this is crucial for your brand growth, recognition and popularity because customers with positive brand experience will always be your brand preachers.
Conclusion
So folks, just in case you are planning on starting up that dream business of your own and you have been thinking of how to go around it with the branding process, we assure you that if you put in these branding techniques and steps, your business will begin gaining traction in no time.
thanks for stopping by and see you at the next one.