Branding – the myths and the realities
I am an expert on branding. I’ve been a designer my whole professional life and have had the opportunity to work on, in some capacity, branding campaigns for many of the world’s top brands.
It's a complex topic but I want to share with you the most critical aspect of any successful brand strategy: Tell your customers about who you are and what you do. And don't just tell them once! You need to be consistent in your message across all platforms so that people know what makes you different from your competitors and why they should choose you - or at least pay attention to what you have to offer.
Like any art form, branding is in a constant state of evolution and definition - but the basics remain the same. People have been developing brands for thousands of years. As far back as the ancient Egyptians, people have been designing symbols and icons that stand out from the crowd.
The first brands were probably not even symbols or images but rather sounds or even scents or tastes. Many scents today are so associated with a brand that they can be confused as to whether they came first or second in history! A good example of this is Burberry's signature "English Rose" scent vs Chanel's signature "Coco" scent.
We have seen many brands in the last thirty years develop and evolve from these early scratch marks but only a handful have really and truly stood the test of time.
So what makes a brand stand out today? If you think about it, there are a number of factors which make a brand successful. But the most critical aspect is not just the design or marketing but also the powerful messaging that gives people an idea of what you are really about. The more you can get across to your customers, in clear and simple terms, about who you are and what you do - without any confusion - then the better chance your brand has to succeed. You might have heard the term "branding" - or even used it a lot yourself - but what does it actually mean? Some say that "branding" means your logo, others will tell you it's about your market position or your core values. But in reality all of these things are just part of what makes up a brand. It's not so simple as just knowing who you are and telling people about it.
Let me start by explaining what branding is, at its most basic level:
A brand is a name, term or design that identifies the product or service of a seller. The ultimate goal of any brand is to create a lasting impression in the minds of the consumer.
Everything from the way your company looks and sounds, to the quality, price and delivery of your products or services, contributes to creating this impression.
What does branding mean for you?
Well, it means that people can identify you when they see or hear about you. This means that they will "get it" right away, whether they are seeing your logo on a box of cereal or hearing your name when they pick up the phone and dial. A successful brand makes them feel safe and secure because it helps them understand what you stand for and what they can expect from you.
Branding is, in other words, the result of a company's effort to link up with its customers. It's the process of making yourself - or your brand - memorable by creating an association between you and what you do.
Remember "Just Do It" from Nike? That was a great example of a brand that successfully made people feel safe, secure and confident about buying a product from them. Other companies will try to get you to buy their products by making you think that they are part of some kind of membership club (a movie studio for example), even if they don't actually sell any membership cards or discounts. They want you to think of it as a club, and they want you to start thinking of them, or the products they sell, in a particular way. And once you've done that, you're a member for life. You're using the power of marketing to tell people who you are and what you do; it's all about telling your customers how good they are going to feel when they buy from you.
Where did this idea come from?
At some point someone must have thought up the idea that if everyone was advertising themselves on television, radio and in print then they might come across as more interesting than just "some guy". It became a kind of requirement for anyone hoping to get into the business of selling things. The name or identity was thought up, written down or drawn on a piece of paper; then it was photographed or filmed and sent to the printer. The name or identity would then be used on all the company's advertisements until someone decided that it needed some sort of "paint-job", so they would have to re-do another batch.
How did that become such an important part of brand creation?
This is a good question and there are two schools of thought as to why companies started doing this.
The first is that it was simply a way of getting your name out there. A well-known brand creates more attention, and more business, than an unknown brand.
To be a successful brand you need to become familiar to your customers, and the easiest way to get their minds working in the right direction is to put out a lot of advertising. You put yourself (or your logo or name) on everything; on handbags, clothes, shoes, watches and so on: it's better for your company's image if people are aware of you at all times. Companies like McDonalds will create lots of different advertisements for each country they operate in so that their customers feel more comfortable with them and can trust them more easily.
The second school of thought is that it was a way to make your company unique, as well as more memorable. This can be a very effective strategy because your competitors are going to be spending most of their time and money trying to tell people who they are and what they stand for. By thinking about who you really are and what you really stand for - and then saying it over and over again - you will quickly build up a reputation: one that can only be associated with you.
This is the difference between being known as "the underwear company" (nearly any company selling underwear) or "the breasts company". The messages being sent by the companies are very different, which will greatly affect their success. The underwear company's slogan is "your best support" but their competitors' messaging is "feel better about yourself".
Of course, this means that there are lots of companies out there trying to build up a brand and make themselves more memorable than others while they are trying to sell things. So how do you tell them apart?
What makes a brand successful?
You can't say that you were successful unless people remember your brand name. That's why so many brands find it useful to put a lot of effort into creating a powerful image, even though they may be selling just one product or service.
Conclusion
So you can see that branding is a very important part of getting your business off the ground. It's not just about creating a clever name or logo (though you should be considering those things as well). It's all about thinking carefully about your own personal values, then planning how to connect them with your customers.
Remember that everything you do or say, every product you sell and every service you provide must reinforce this brand short-hand message: "Today, I want to help people feel safe and secure . . . Today, I want it to be easy for people to buy from me. Today, I believe my customers deserve the best.