What is Branding? A Detailed Look at the Art of Creating an Identity
“If your business is not a brand, It is a commodity.”- Donald Trump
What is Branding?
Building a loyal and consistent relationship between a company and its consumer is the quintessence of Branding.
In the present competitive market where consumers have a hundred alternatives for a particular product or service, how do companies contend and retain their customers?
This is where Branding comes into play.
Branding helps in creating a brand from a business using insightful business strategies which help the brand retain its customers and grow as a community. The goal is to develop an image of the brand in the eyes of the consumers that helps them distinguish it from the competitors and develop confidence in it.
Branding is all about communicating to the world what the brand is offering to create awareness and later, delivering the promised to create trust. Branding consists of various strategies that need to be implemented by the experts in order to create the required brand image.
Brand yourself before others brand you!
Why do you need branding?
The need for branding cannot be undermined and I would like to list just enough reasons for you to appreciate the concept of it! Stay with me for this.
1. Branding aims to create awareness in the minds of its consumers and builds a unique identity :
It involves communicating with the consumers on behalf of the whole organization. This communication is centered around the values of the brand, what it is offering in the market and how it is different from what already exists. This helps increase the consumers’ knowledge about the brand and define what they can expect from it.
2. Branding makes it possible to stand out among the competitors :
With negligible trade barriers and growing globalization, it has become imperative to stand out in the competitive market. Brands are not only competing with their local counterparts, but they face bigger threats from the international giants as well. In this state of competitiveness, branding helps the organisation to portray its brand image in a strategic way so that the consumer would choose them against their competitors.
3. Branding helps to boost employee morale and keeps them satisfied :
Employees are the biggest internal assets of an organisation. When they start trusting the brand for which they are working, they tend to contribute in more ways than just doing their daily work. They begin to support the brand, promote it and protect it. Branding makes all this possible by instilling a sense of trust and faith in the hearts of the employees of the organisation. This creates a culture where every employee feels pride in working for the brand- the end result, improved productivity and turnover.
4. Branding helps in expanding the customer base :
Companies that use extensive branding strategies to connect with their consumers happen to create a long term bond with them. These consumers tend to promote the brand among their families and friends since they are so connected to the brand. They want people close to them to join it as well. This helps the brand in expanding its customer base.
“Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind”,-Walter Landor
How to do branding?
- Begin with determining your target audience :
Power lies in the specifics. To create branding strategies that work well in the market, it is extremely important to first establish the audience that you intend to target. This will help in creating the brand image in a way your target audience would like to see it.
2. Focus on the product and packaging design :
This is one of the most important aspects of branding. Customers pay a lot of attention to the look and feel of the product that they’re purchasing.The product and packaging designs must speak for themselves. They should be well thought of as they can make or break the brand image. The design should be made keeping in mind that the product will be competing against many global names in addition to the local ones.
3. Ensure a consistent social media presence :
Once you’ve built your brand, it is necessary to keep your consumers engaged with the brand. So, you must learn about the platforms that your consumers are using in order to connect with them. This is what creating an impactful social media presence is all about. First, you need to understand which platforms your target audience uses such as Facebook,Instagram, Twitter etc, and then start interacting with them over those platforms. In this way, the users can also stay updated with the activities, promotions and events related to your brand.
4. Develop the voice of your brand :
To communicate effectively with your target audience, you need a voice they would like to hear (not literally). You need to decide on the voice in which you’ll communicate with your consumers- it can be friendly, informative, professional, promotional, or anything else that you feel will be most relevant and will help your consumers understand your brand better.
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”- Seth Godin
You can refer to the infographic below for refreshing all the points quickly.
We hope this article helps you build your company into a brand and you come back to this space for another meaningful reading!
