What is branding? Defining what branding is and what it does?

Branding has been given many definitions by many sources. In the dictionary you may find two different definitions: the action of marking with a branding iron or the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design. In the other hand businessdictionary.com defines branding as creating a unique name or image for a product in the consumer’s mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. But branding goes more deeper than that. Branding is deeper than a logo or an advertising campaign. As said by Marty Neumeier, branding is “created by a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.”

What is Branding?

First, let’s start with what branding is not and what is not defined by. A brand is not a logo, an identity, or a product. A brand is not defined by an organization, markets, nor the public. Branding is the experience a person has with a certain product, service or organization. A brand is also identified by individuals.

Branding is integrated throughout your whole organization. The culture within your organization, dress code, or décor of your business – that’s all part of your brand. Let’s take a look at Starbucks as an example. Every Starbucks location uses the same dress code, the décor, the same color, and even the same music. Having a consistent branding will help you audience have something to remember you by or associate by something that they didn’t even notice in the first place. Next time you go out of town check out another Starbucks location and take a close look at how identical it is to the location in your town.

Branding is also associated with certain a behavior or experience. When designing your branding strategy keep this in mind: what is the first thing you want customers to think of when they talk about your brand? For example, let’s take a look at Coca-Cola. When we think of Coca-Cola the first thing that my come to our minds is refreshment or even the encouragement of bringing people together, rather than a soda.

Branding can also help your business become more recognizable and trustworthy. Branding is a powerful tool when trying to build brand recognition and trust. Sure, a good logo can help you become more recognizable. But, let’s dig dipper! The main reason people keep on buying from a certain business is due to trust. Trust can be delivered by meeting and exceeding customer’s expectations. Trust can be thought of as the sum of reliability and delight. This is the reason companies such as Apple, Inc. have been able to become leaders in their industry.

The disciplines of branding

There are five main disciplines that can help you outline and successfully brand your organization. These disciplines can be thought of as differentiation, collaboration, innovation, validation, and cultivation. The five disciplines work together to help you develop a unique brand.

1. Differentiate

In a world where there are many businesses within the same industry, knowing how to differentiate yourself will help you stand out from the pack. Afterall, customers buy from brands that are unique to their liking or beliefs. Differentiation is also part of our nature; our brains act as filters, so we are not consuming to much information. We’re hardwired to focus only on what’s different. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the image below:

In order to differentiate yourself you must focus on what makes your brand unique. When differentiating your brand there are three words that are very important and those are focus, focus, and focus as said by Morty Neumeier in his book, The Brand Gap.

Finding how to differentiate your brand can be extremely hard. So, let’s start with a couple questions that can help you figure out how you are different from other businesses. Ask yourself: Who are you? What you do? And Why does it matter? Understanding these questions can help you identify your unique selling point.

2. Collaborate

By collaboration I don’t mean by working with other businesses in your industries but working alongside with other firms that can help you take your branding to the next level. Collaborative efforts can help you develop and steward your brand. There are many different methods on how you can incorporate collaboration with a branding team. These methods include: One-stop shop, brand agency, and integrated design team.

One-stop shop

As you may guess, a “one-stop shop” a is firm that offers a variety of services. However, this may come with pros and cons. They main reason why you would want to work with a one-stop firm is due to how many services they offer and the promise of consistency. But there is also downside to this strategy. The common one is the little ownership over your branding. And the other little choice of team.

Brand agency

A brand agency is another good way to collaborate with another firm. Hiring a brand agency helps deliver consistency and as well as a choice of teams. The main downside that about hiring a brand agency is the little ownership with over your branding.

Integrated marketing team

The best way we found of collaborating with other firms is to collaborate with a firm that offer an integrated marketing team. An integrated marketing team offers you a choice of team, promise consistency, and give you full ownership if your brand. The only downside is the difficulty to manage.

As a marketing agency we help you develop an integrated branding team that helps you achieve your branding goals. The number one priority is helping you find who you are as a brand an as a business.

3. Innovate

Innovation and creativity give brands their traction in the marketplace. But how exactly do you know if your idea is creative or innovative enough? Well, let’s just say this, innovative ideas SCARE everybody. We can think of Tesla as a company that came up with a scary idea but pointed to the future of the automotive industry. Tesla was the first company to adopt an all online strategy to sell their vehicles.

4. Validate

Validation is the action or process of checking or proving the validity or accuracy of something. But that’s just the dictionary definition. When it comes to branding, validation means the process of bringing your audience in the creative process.

5. Cultivate

Cultivating your brand is very important. A bring, like a human, is a pattern of behaviors, and not a stylistic veneer. In other words, your brand needs to be able to “change clothes” without changing its behavior. Think of this ideology, a human may wear different styles but always show the same behaviors.

Conclusion

Branding is one of the most important aspect of a business. With branding, you are trying to build a connection with your audience. Branding also helps you tell your message to the customers and why they should buy from you and not the competition. But remember your branding must be unique, storytelling, cultivating, and most important powerful. Now tell me, how does your brand stand out?