Debunking Common Myths About Branding

For many people, branding tends to be a highly misunderstood concept. In reality, branding is an indispensable part of any successful business and marketing strategy.

So, what does branding exactly mean?

Heinz is a brilliant example of what brand is.

In the UK, its baked beans are remarkably successful. One of its competitors wanted to find out why. They ran blind taste tests — and discovered that two-thirds of customers preferred the taste of their beans to Heinz’s. Yet as soon as the brands were revealed, customers preferred the Heinz beans.

To put it simply, branding is how people perceive you and your business to be.

Do you think branding is just about a colour-palette, logo and a style guide?

Do you think branding is too complex for your business?

Let’s bust these and a few of your other branding myths:

1.Branding is just about your logo and website: You may think you are done with branding because you have a logo and website in place but it takes more to build a brand. While a logo and website set the stage for corporate identity, branding as a whole encapsulates the values, beliefs, and promises that you can communicate to your consumer. It’s important to be clear on how you define your brand and what you want your prospective consumers to know, think and feel about it.

2. Branding is necessary only for products and services: Many people misunderstand branding as something that is only done for consumer products and services. Rather, it is largely used for businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs as well.

3. Branding is expensive for your business: While it’s true that many giant corporates and organisations spend millions to brand themselves, you don’t necessarily need that big a budget to brand yourself. You might just think of eliminating the branding expense when you’re just starting out your business and have ten other costs to cater to. However, it is an asset that can make or break your business. So, prioritise your brand identity more than the logo of your company.

4. Branding is a one time deal: Brand building is an ongoing activity which constantly needs to be worked on. You have to define and enhance your brand on a regular basis by implementing specific activities to create brand awareness and engagement. Be sure to exploit the opportunities and brand strategies that will serve as an impetus for your brand building activities and add value to your consumers.

Branding has become imperative with ever growing competition and the plethora of choices that it offers people. It not only gives your customers a reason to care about your products and services but also gives the power to drive growth and success for your business.

Taking a cue from big brands like Apple, Coca-Cola, Airbnb, focus on clearly communicating your brand’s values and promises to the customer and watch it promote brand loyalty and customer retention for you, in turn!

Want to know how you can leverage branding for your business? Write to us at coffee@sparkeighteen.com or get in touch here.