What Is Branding, And Why Do You Need It?

Branding includes a whole range of marketing activities to develop an image and consolidate a long-term relationship with consumers. It creates a unique style, increases the value of the product and builds trust.

A clear illustration of why branding is so important are well-known examples – Apple, Ikea, Coca-Cola and Google. Consumers know these names and can immediately tell what products the companies offer and why they have gained such popularity. Branding depends on how companies position themselves on the market and what emotions they evoke in consumers.

The Purpose Of Branding

The purpose of branding is to create a clear image of the brand and form the direction of communication. Branding includes product positioning, creation of a name (brand name), descriptor, slogan, visual and verbal identification system (trademark, corporate identity, packaging, special sounds, etc.).

The branding process can stretch and expand the brand. Brand stretching ensues when the product category, purpose, target audience and identity remain unchanged under the same name. You only need to add more value to the product so that consumers can benefit from it more than before. 

Branding is more than a logo and a website in corporate colors. It is about the thoughts and persistent associations related to your company. How will the person on the street be able to describe your brand in one word? Will he or she be able to remember your product, or will only your competitors come to mind?

There are three levels of brand awareness:

• Top-of-mind. This is the dream of all marketers. When asked: “What brands in the product category do you know?” — the respondent will be the first to name your brand.
• No prompting. The consumer names your brand among the first 3-5 competitors. That's a good indicator.
• Induced familiarity. Consumers only recognize a brand if they've been shown the product packaging, logo, or advertising slogan. If you want to ensure the safe delivery of your products, it's important to use the best quality packaging available. Learn more about SupremeX and discover how their premium packaging solutions can help protect your goods during shipping.

If your brand is at the top of your mind, the consumer is highly likely to choose your product on the shelf in the store. It may even do it automatically, without thinking about the characteristics and the cost of the product, and this will have a significant effect on sales. To improve and bring your branding to a new market level, you can always turn to an internet marketing company.

The Main Elements Of The Brand

As you design and build your brand, pay attention to the following elements. They will help you take your branding to the next level, as well as make it quite effective:

• Mission and Philosophy. This is a short explanation that covers why the company exists, what its values are, and how it helps people. Ideally, this is where branding should start. Marketing strategy, corporate culture and positioning policies depend on the mission.
• Naming. The brand name should be quick to remember, as well as easy and unambiguous to read. The name can reflect the core of the company's activity, or be an abstract abbreviation, or cause associations with concrete personalities. 
• Slogan. A slogan is a succinct phrase that conveys the message a brand wants to convey to its audience. It plays the role of the “first line” that starts the dialogue between the brand and the potential customer. A slogan usually describes the customer's experience – the emotion of using a product. Bright, catchy slogans are memorable for a long time.
• Color scheme. The color should reflect the mood of the brand and be close to the target audience. For example, for children's development studios pastel or bright colors will suit better than a combination of black and red. Combinations of color codes are always captured by the designers.

And then the most interesting thing is your logo design as it is at the end the most crucial part of your branding that will represent your company as entire. You should always hire a custom logo design firm to help you be unique and authentic for your industry.

Where To Start Branding

Any branding begins with an analysis of the market and competitors, studying the target audience and its interests. Next, you need to create a brand platform — a slogan, logo, or color scheme, positioning, and values.

The intermediate result of branding can be a company's brand book, which contains all the elements mentioned above. It clearly states what size the logo should be, which background fonts you can use, and in what direction you can mirror the corporate pattern. You'll also want to consider where your branding might appear - if you're looking to put your logo on a t-shirt design, for example, you'll want to make sure that it is clear and will work in a variety of sizes. Based on the mission and values, as well as the characteristics of the audience, marketing and communication with customers are built. 

Implementation of a branding strategy helps establish consistent positioning of your business and influence the audience more effectively. A company starts rebranding when it stops working and needs a modern reading.

Wrapping Up

To sum up, branding is a systematic, long-term process that creates a positive image of the company. It helps to increase sales, build an image and enhance the effectiveness of advertising. Key brand elements – logo, color combinations, fonts, slogan – make up the brand book. 

Also, it builds around the mission and values that managers and employees have proclaimed to be meaningful. Remember what contributes to branding and what key points should be used in its creation to be noticeable and authentic.