Generally, people consider a name, logo, color and even a sound as the Branding of a company. Although they are partially correct as these form elements of a brand, they are just scratching the surface.
Branding is an intangible asset inherent to the offer, forming its identity, experience and/or characteristics that differentiate it from others in the market.
Branding gives personality to your business. And customers become loyal to a brand if they relate to the brand's personality.
Your brand can be trusted, luxurious, passionate, tasty as well as fun, innovative, caring, professional or safe. That is, it all depends on your target audience and how you want to position your business in the market.
But still, it's a term rarely understood. This is because of the lack of an adequate definition of branding that clearly explains what exactly it is and why it is important to know the difference between a brand and its elements.
Knowing the definition of branding is hardly enough to understand its essence, but also its importance. Thus, this article will help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the brand, its importance and its main constituents.
What is Branding?
Branding is the combination of properties within, but also outside, an offer that gives it an identity and makes it distinct from others.
According to Kotler, a trademark is a name, term, sign symbol (or a combination thereof) that identifies the manufacturer or seller of the product.
In simple terms, a brand is the sum of all the attributes inherent to the offer, used to develop the offer's identity in the market.
branding history
The concept of branding dates back to 2.700 BC, when the ancient Egyptians used to burn their mark (or mark) on their cattle to differentiate them from other people's cattle.
In fact, even the term brand is derived from the ancient word “brandr” which means “to burn”.
Closer usage to what we have today, however, began in the late 1800s, when Coca-Cola decided to differentiate its products from other generic products, painting everything in its trademark color, the characteristic red, and developing the patented design. of their bottles and printing logos on the company's products.
Importance of a Brand
Given the fact that most markets today are saturated with companies offering similar products, developing a brand has become imperative to develop a favorable perception of the offer in the market and stand out.
Here are some reasons why branding is important:
- Gives identity: A brand is the identity that the offer meets. The brand attributes tangible and intangible and inseparable attributes such as name, logo, colors, voice, shape, etc. to the offer that helps to develop a personality that has a distinct identity in the market.
- Recognition and differentiation: A branded offering is easily recognized and differentiated from other products on the market.
- Marketing: Marketing requires an identity that needs to be promoted. It becomes easier to promote a branded product than one that isn't.
- Increases value: The brand becomes an intangible asset that has its own value. This value, when attached to a generic offer, increases its overall monetary and non-monetary value.
- Helps build trust: Give product aid recognition an identity, which in turn helps build customer trust. The brand gives the product a name that can be trusted.
Branding Types
Although there is a definition of branding, the application of the concept differs for different aspects. Generally, a brand is categorized into three types. These are:
- Offer branding: When an identity is built around a tangible or intangible offer, it is referred to as an offer brand. This offer can be anything from a product, a service, to a place, an event or a cause.
- Corporate Branding: This is the brand of the parent company that handles the offering. Typically, a single company offers more than one branded offering. In these cases, a corporate brand is also developed to differentiate the corporate identity from the brand identity.
- Personal Branding: Famous personalities and other aspiring individuals develop their own brand by differentiating them from others. That's a personal brand.
Features
A brand is an inherently valuable asset that has the following characteristics
- Intangible: It is an intangible asset that cannot be separated from the offer. It is a perception of the identity of the offer that is often used to recognize it and differentiate it from other products.
- Dynamic: A brand is more an experience than just an identity. Each customer may have a different perception of the brand according to their experience.
- Distinct: The sole purpose of developing a brand is to develop a distinct identity with human characteristics such as name, color, personality, etc.
- Amorphous: Branding has no restrictions. That is, offers are branded, and brand experiences are created at almost every touchpoint, and such experiences and interactions have infinite possibilities.
- Emotional: Branding is when a human personality is associated with an offer. Then such human personalities develop emotional connections with customers.
- Highly recognizable: Brands are highly recognizable and different. They have their own attributes that help their customers to recognize and differentiate them from generic offerings as well as other market players.
- Consistent: A brand develops an identity that, when consistent, develops an image (perception) in the minds of customers. Therefore, consistency is an important characteristic of a brand.
branding elements
Branding is the sum total of all visual elements, but also the non-visual, tangible and intangible elements that drive customer perception and make them believe in what the company wants them to do. These brand elements include:
Visual Identity
The brand's visual identity includes the recognizable and communicable perspective of the brand, such as name, logo, color, slogan, typography, graphics, etc.
Brand associations
These are the associations that come to customers' minds when they think of the brand. These can be ads, brand ambassadors, brand offering features, class, lifestyle, emotions etc.
brand purpose
The brand's purpose represents what the company stands for and what its social obligations to society, consumers and the environment are.
brand promise
It's the value customers expect to get whenever they interact with the brand or buy its offerings.
brand identity
Brand identity is the set of all branding activities that a company delivers. That is, to be perceived in a particular way by the target audience.
brand personality
Brand personality is the association of human characteristics and characteristics with the brand that customers can relate to.
Brand Voice
The brand's voice is the uniformity in word selection, that is, the brand's attitude and values when approaching the target audience or others.
brand image
A brand image is an aggregate of beliefs, ideas, as well as impressions that a customer has regarding the brand.
brand experience
The brand experience is awakening a holistic sensory experience to build a complete relationship between customers and a brand.
Brand Equity
The brand equity is the aggregate of assets and liabilities linked to the brand, but also linked to the symbol, which results in the relationship that customers have with the brand.
Brand Architecture
The brand architecture is an organized structure of the company's portfolio of brands, sub-brands, and other offerings.
Why is branding important to your business?
The brand's goal is to create a loyal community of consumers around an idea. But also around shared values, and, of course, encouraging the use of your products or services.
Now, let's see exactly why branding is important and how it can benefit your business.
Each brand has a unique personality and visual identity. By giving your products/services distinct characteristics, you help them stand out from other similar offerings.
Build trust with customers and stakeholders
In branding, consistency is synonymous with trust as well as reliability. People tend to trust brands that remain true to their promises and beyond that, their values.
The more trustworthy your brand, the more likely you are to gain returning customers.
Make your value proposition high and clear and stay true to it with every social media post, product design, and customer service interaction.
It is the fastest way to build a solid brand and thereby increase brand awareness.
Business ties seamlessly tie into the company's core message and policy.
Becoming a trusted brand is important not only for acquiring customers, but also for attracting potential investors and stakeholders.
No one will invest their resources or time in an unstable business that reschedules itself every few months.
Conclusion
In a world of ample choice and opportunity, it is difficult for a company to rise to the top and therefore become a necessity.
Building a strong brand gives you the chance to connect with people on a much more personal level and become a part of their lives.
The strongest brands are built around an idea, but also purpose. So define yours, communicate it to your audience, and stay loyal to it with all your brand assets.
With Colors Agency, we guarantee much more than just an attractive look and a modern layout for your website.
Our main focus is to offer companies around the world effective solutions to generate visibility on the internet.
Our agency develops SEO strategies as well as brand positioning for large, medium and small multinational companies, all projects are important to us.
