If you are a digital marketer or a startup owner, there are chances that you have come across the word “branding”. What is branding though? Well to understand that, let’s talk about Starbucks. What comes to your mind, when hearing the brand name Starbucks? Many of you might think luxury, coffee, varieties, work environment and, some even expensive (we aren’t complaining though!). So what are these notions that follow a brand name? These are the experiences related to the particular brand’s product or service - their brand value.
Brands offer experiences and emotions while selling their products & services. We buy them while keeping the experiences in mind, and these brands know what experience they want you to have when you make (or consider) the purchase. This experience cultivated by them is known as branding.
A brand is how you perceive a company. It is the identity and story unique to a company that makes it stand out from its competitors. Brands are a way for companies to convey their story, vision, and mission. A brand defines what a company stands for and why. It is the experience that a customer (or potential customer) goes through while interacting with the business.
Branding is the process of building and creating a brand for the company. The process has two stages; creating a brand for a company and creating materials to support the brand - like a logo, tagline, slogan, brand voice, color palette, visual design and much more. So, branding is the process of researching, creating, and implementing a set of distinctive features that align with your story, so that the customers can experience your brand with your products or services. Like, Apple sells iPhone as its product. But, it also sells the experience and emotion of security, luxury and achievement. So, that is the branding story Apple has developed for its organization.
Branding is seen in social media captions, packaging and PR’s that the company creates. Companies often put a lot of emphasis on branding because they know that the brand value can go a long way in persuading the purchase decision. Branding is more of a storytelling and it needs to touch the heart of your customers. While most of the time, branding and marketing are used in the same sense, they differ a lot. Branding and marketing both are crucial for a business to grow. In layman’s language, branding is the identity, and marketing is the strategy that pushes forward this identity.
If you are still reading this article expecting an answer to - why branding is not important, then you aren’t taking your business seriously. So, without any further ado, let’s dive into the benefits of branding!
The brand image of your company will play a deciding factor to the customers while taking the call to purchase. It is seen in a survey that customers tend to buy products or services that make them a better person - a brand story that makes them feel heroic or good. So, the next time your product or service stands in the competition, remember that it's your branding that will make you win. If you don’t mind losing then, for sure, branding isn’t needed!
Branding defines your business identity. Quality products & services are crucial, but what makes the customer buy that quality product or service is branding. The story that they relate to and identify with, is what makes you their go-to brand. So, if you don’t want your customers to consider you as their go-to, branding isn’t needed!
Good branding helps the customers in remembering them for a long period. Remember Fevicol, the company’s branding was so powerful that we to date call adhesive as Fevicol. That’s what quality branding does. If you don’t mind your customers forgetting you, then branding isn’t needed!
Branding supports boosting your marketing efforts. Marketing is a set of strategies, and branding adds an emotional element to it. While marketing strategies will help in promoting your business, branding will give that punch of personal touch and recognition. So, if all that matters to you is strategies with no aim, then branding isn’t needed!
We have seen what is a brand, what is branding, and the importance of branding. Branding is a vast subject and has many layers to it. We will be talking about other things branding too, so keep an eye out for it in our blogs!
