The words ‘Brand’ and ‘Branding’ are thrown around by all sorts of people with many different meanings. In this article we shed some light on the subject of branding; what it is, how it works and how you can use it to help improve your business.

What do we mean by the word ‘Brand’?

A brand is a set of associations that a consumer makes with a company, product, service, individual or organisation.

The word ‘Brand’ is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary as “The promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.”

While advertising and design make up the physical elements of a brands image, in reality there are more ingredients to a successful brand. Factors including the personality of your business, its vision, and its point of difference all influence how consumers perceive brands and consequently determine the consumers buying habits.

Some of these associations are intentional (actively promoted) and some may be outside of the company’s control (accidental). For example, Coca-Cola has actively promoted the positive associations of being the original drink ‘The Real Thing’, yet consumers may also see it as unhealthy.

What is Branding?

Branding is an attempt to create and manipulate consumer associations to help the business perform better.

Any organisation can benefit enormously by creating a brand that its consumers perceive to be attractive and memorable.

If you’re thinking about how to rebrand your business, its products or services, or if you want to assess where your brand stands at present, there are a few key aspects to consider:

• The big idea – what lies at the heart of your company?
• Values – what do you believe in?
• Vision – where are you going?
• Personality – how do you want to come across?

Why is branding important?

Branding can help you stand out from your competitors, it can add value to your offer, and it can help you engage with customers.

Creating difference from competition
Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes your offer different to, and more desirable than anyone else’s.

Effective branding elevates a product or organisation from being just one commodity amongst many identical commodities, to become something with a unique character and promise.

Adding Value

People are generally willing to pay more for a branded product than they are for something which is largely unbranded. Furthermore positive associations with a certain brand can be extended through a whole range of products or services.

Connecting with People

Creating a connection with people is important for all organisations and a brand can embody attributes which consumers will feel drawn to.

Design and branding

As we started out by saying, an organisation’s brand is a whole set of associations which people make when they think about or encounter that business.

A common misconception is that a brand is simply a logo or identity. The logo is one instance of a brand, although it’s a top-level communication, seen most frequently by the greatest number of people. It should therefore encompass the key ingredients of the brand in a distinctive and recognisable symbol.

After working through a branding project with your designer you should be left with something called a brand identity style guide. This document details exactly how the different design elements (typically visual) should be applied in different situations. It will give information on things like typography, graphics, colors, materials, templates and photography used in the visual manifestation of the brand, providing instructions on how to apply them in different contexts, at different scales and so on. More detailed brand guidelines may include things like cultural or behavioral directions for staff training.

Your organisation can use these brand guidelines to manage the brand after the designer’s work on the project is completed without losing the original consistency and clarity of the designs and, most importantly, without losing sight of your original big idea.

Summary

While absolute control over a brand is not possible due to outside influences, intelligent use of design, advertising, marketing, service proposition, company culture etc can all help to generate associations in people’s minds that will benefit the organisation.

In different industry sectors the audiences, competitors, delivery and service aspects of branding may differ, but the basic principle of being clear about what you stand for always applies.

Contact Evoke Creative today for more information on branding or re-branding for your products, business, or organization.