Keys to good branding

If you are not sure what branding really means, Don’t worry! Its one of those marketing concepts that can be vague and can quickly become confusing, even for people who have studied marketing. But using simple examples, let try to understand what this thing really means!

Branding is not just your logo or tagline or the “look” and “feel” of your marketing communications. Branding is the sum total of your customer’s experiences and perceptions of your products, services, and employees.

So lets define some few terms hear to understand branding better:

Product:

“a product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas”

This means that a product can be anything from a hotel stay, a beauty palour, a driving course, to clothes, food, a toothbrush etc.

Brand:

“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers”

You can consider a brand as the idea or image people have in mind when thinking about specific products, services and activities of a company, both in a practical (e.g. “the cake is sweet”) and emotional way (e.g. “the cake relaxes my mind”). It is therefore not just the physical features that create a brand but also the feelings that consumers develop towards the company or its product. This combination of physical and emotional cues is triggered when exposed to the name, the logo, the visual identity, or even the message communicated.

Have you ever wondered why inspite for example, Pepsi and Coca-Cola tasting very similar, for some reason someone will get more hooked to Pepsi than they are Coca and others the reverse?

A product can be easily copied by other players in a market, but a brand will always be unique.

In actuality, your brand is what everyone else thinks your company and product are – it’s what people say about your company behind your back.

Branding:

What is it?

“Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand”

A branding strategy is the beginning of all customer contact behavior. When the budget allows, the branding strategy can become the basis for better advertising communications such as multi-media advertising, direct mail, trade shows, and expanded public relations.

The undertaking of branding may seem scary; however there is strong proof that branding is worth the effort. Listed here are some benefits of a strong brand.

• Branding is what gives your company value and makes stand apart from the crowd.
• Enhanced perceived value allows for top pricing and shelters you from price competition.
• Branding will provide protection in times of negative press.
• A strong brand enables you to launch new products and services more quickly and cost effectively.
• Your brand will come to pass with or without your effort. Branding and managing a brand is tough work. Here are some no-nonsense guidelines on how to get started.
• To succeed, you’ll need to get everyone involved from top management on down.
• Research the successful competitors. Study their communications and how they position themselves.
• Study what values are most significant to customers. Develop a questionnaire and interview key customers and prospects.
• Develop a strategy from the information you gathered. It must be achievable and differentiating.
• Leverage brand strategy by integrating marketing communications. Check for consistency of all communications from every department. Sending a cohesive message will build brand equity.
• Evaluate and measure performance. Make changes as needed but be patient.