Branding today is essential for a brand to compete and survive the continuous changes suffered by markets and the behavior of users. To do this, you must create a solid brand that will help you differentiate yourself from the rest and attract customers.
We live in a world where there is a lot of information. We receive thousands of impacts every day by different means. The development of digital marketing has exponentially multiplied sales opportunities by simply opening the laptop or mobile browser. That is why brands seek to impact us through new and more channels.
The competition for the attention of potential customers is becoming increasingly fierce and creating opportunities for sale is a maxim for all companies teacher email list. The offer also begins to be increasingly similar: the products are very similar in characteristics, quality and price, so it is difficult to convince consumers to try, buy and buy us back.
With so much information and similarity of products, the only way to stand out is through branding
However, despite this complicated scenario, some companies stand out from the rest and inspire confidence. This confidence makes us choose them over others at the time of purchase. This loyalty ensures that we do not look at the price, and even the quality, to finish our conversion.
Why does this happen? Because there are subjective and perceptual factors that are more defining when making a purchasing decision than the merely rational ones.
Can you influence these subjective factors? Yes, the brands have been doing for years with marketing techniques that are included within the term: branding.
Where does the term “branding” come from?
The first vestiges of brand use to differentiate a product date from approximately 350 a.c. and comes from the term “brandr” which means “to mark with fire” in an old Nordic dialect.
Many years later, in the year 1500 AD ranchers already used their brand on their cattle heads to determine their property. They were simple and easily identifiable signs marked by fire on the skin of the animals. What we would now call logo.
Nowadays, we continue this practice by marking our products to differentiate them from the rest. We use more complex techniques loaded with meaning. However, the objective remains the same: to stand out from the media noise and differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
With the arrival of the Internet, branding and branding has become a key element to achieve presence in the chaotic digital space.Differences between brand and branding
Although it may seem the same, brand and branding represent different concepts and being clear about what makes them different can help you improve. Let’s see what they mean.
What is a brand?
The brand, explained in the simplest way, are all the perceptions that the public of your company has. What they think of her It is a perception caused by a careful structure of emotions that are intrinsically related to the values of each individual.
What is branding?
Branding is the set of actions that lead to create that structure in the minds of our public.
When done well, branding leaves an indelible imprint executed by a mixture of design, language and experience directed towards a specific goal.
Apple example
A great example of that branding that creates butterflies in the stomach is the one developed by the Apple brand. Today, both the lovers and the detractors of the brand recognize the same values of the brand and awaken in them the same feelings.
Apple CEO John Sculley said in a 1997 interview that:
“People talk about technology, but Apple is a marketing company. It’s the marketing company of the decade. “
Steve Jobs understood this better than anyone in the company. In this way, he managed to rescue a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1990 and transformed it to what it is now. His brand strategy was clear: he rejuvenated the brand, launched ambitious messages and created historical advertising campaigns.
Put into operation clear and effective branding tools. Nowadays Apple is one of the companies that work best in stock markets around the world.
Steve Jobs understood that what sets a good brand strategy apart is its cohesion, consistency and clarity. These three Cs create strong bonds of union in the users. Your customers know what to expect when they use Apple products and software.
Instagram Social Networks ¿Branding is for small companies or for large companies?
Whatever the size of your company, it is essential to know that your branding can work. Within its possibilities, every company must implement plans proactively to improve the influence on its consumers and reach higher levels of success in the company.
Ideally, this branding starts at the same time as the activity of the company. Since it is much more difficult to modify a bad opinion of consumers than to build a good opinion. We will achieve this with concerted actions from the beginning following a clear strategy.
Branding improves the influence of Brands on Consumers #branding
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Why does your company need branding?
Mark or be marked. If you do not define the attributes of your brand the market will do it for you and it may be that the opinion of competitors, which will not be what you want, is the one that ultimately remains in the mind of the consumer. This is the main reason to create a clear branding strategy in your business, but there are some more. Take note!
► Branding helps you stand out from your competition
When you go to a store to buy some new sneakers or you are in an ecommerce, your brain is faced with a multitude of decisions before choosing the model that you will definitely buy. But, why do you always think about buying Nike?Nike example
Nike has achieved, thanks to its branding campaigns, to create an image of reliability in its products without competition. If you buy shoes or any other sports equipment, you know that you buy the best equipment in the world.
But is this true? Maybe there are other brands that exceed the technical characteristics, finishes and materials of Nike, but for our brain Nike is the best.
Why? Because Nike has dedicated so much time to its branding campaigns as to the design of its products. Until getting the idea of reliability and quality in our perception towards the brand.
Now we take it for granted, but it has not been the result of chance. But the result of campaigns and branding campaigns that combine a good idea, a clear brand image, a catchy music and impeccable aesthetics. Which shows that when we as customers we have several options, the brand helps us to make the most important decision: that of the purchase.
► Branding increases the value of what you sell
If you think about it rationally, there is no reason why you should pay more for a product that is exactly the same as another. But the reality is that we do it constantly.
This is the result of brand branding campaigns. The creation of values associated with the brands manage to raise the price of the products by changing the perception of a basic product to a plus (although the composition of the product does not have that plus). It is a psychological added value created thanks to advertising campaigns.
Starbucks example
A great example of that psychological plus is Starbucks. A brand that speaks of people, of emotions and charges five times more than its competitors for a cup of coffee.
Good branding sells and sells more expensive.
► Branding creates emotional ties with its consumers
Storytelling allows you to tell stories to interact with your consumers from an emotional perspective. For some time now, branding has realized that rational messages convince but do not attract. And that the value of positive thinking towards the brand is much greater than any reason.
The same thing happens with the people you love, it is difficult to explain or quantify it. They are feelings that are created with life in common. With the marks it happens the same. As you accumulate more experiences with brands, they begin to be part of your own story. Let brands have a story that tells you helps you understand them and love them.
Coca Cola example
Coca Cola has been telling stories about family, friends, fun for years. Until it has managed to make a hole in your heart, but especially in your shopping cart. In which house is there no Coca Cola?
By the way and as a curious fact, have you noticed that in times of crisis, be it war, terrorist or economic, Coca Cola disappears from the media? Pure branding strategy. In this way it is never associated with these bad moments. Branding works for your unconscious brain, more than for your conscious state.Branding builds customer loyalty
When you have done a good branding campaign, you stop having clients and start having ambassadors. Your customers begin to believe that only your product understands them and covers their needs. This is fundamental when choosing a product. Because what branding gets is to eliminate that process of choice.
Example McDonald’s
The ketchup is Heinz, the Dodot diapers, the Oreo cookies, the Sony televisions, the Facebook social network. They are brands that are pure branding, pure brand image. The most important thing for a brand is not that you buy it once, but that you have it as a reference brand and never buy another brand again.
We see it explicitly in this McDonald’s campaign, other of the great players in international branding.
How to do branding?
We have already seen some of the reasons why every brand needs branding. Now we have to talk about how we do branding.
We could divide the communication of a company into two parts: the mission and the vision of a company.
The mission is the brain of the company, a statement of rational principles that define what the company does and its current state.
Vision is the heart of the brand and define the long-term wishes of the company, what it wants to be in the future.
Once you have clear both the mission and the vision of your company, the brand strategy begins to work in the gap between the present and the future.
All the actions and philosophy of the brand are collected in a document called brand manual or bible of the brand.
What does a brand manual contain?
In this written document should be verified:
The commercial objectives.
What sets you apart from the competition.
The behavior with customers.
Provides guidelines for decision making.
Inspire ideas for future marketing campaigns.
This guide or document can be updated as the scale of your company and social events change. It must be a living element, but one that always responds to a clear, faithful and concise strategy.
Red Bull Example
The Red Bull brand strategy is a clear example of a well done branding job. With his motto “Red Bull gives you wings” he orchestrates all kinds of actions around that concept and takes it to unsuspected limits.
Today it is one of the companies with the highest loyalty in the world. And he continues to do such incredible actions as jumping from the stratosphere. One of the marketing actions that will be remembered for longer, with global reach, but does not forget the principles of its brand: “It gives you wings.”
Elements in which branding works
The ten most common elements where the branding affects are:
Brand identity
- Brand identity
Perhaps the most basic, but something that not all companies are clear. What exactly is a brand and what is brand identity?
The brand is the name, which must be easily recognizable. It gives information to the consumer about the organization, about the products it manufactures and the services it provides.
Brand identity is the way in which people recognize the brand. It can be through the logo or other associated visual elements. The logo, for example, of Nike is very simple, but it is recognizable all over the world and is always accompanied by its claim: “Just Do It”.
Brand image
Brand positioning
Brand Personality
Brand value
Brand Experience
Brand Differentiation
Brand Communication
Brand Consistency
Brand Breadth
Twitter tools Tools to build your branding
To start building the branding of your company you must take into account the essential elements that constitute and shape it, such as:
The logotype
The colors and typographies that make it up
Identity elements such as business cards or letterheads
Other aspects of monitoring that let you know where your brand image is with respect to consumers.
