In this article we share 7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Branding. Read on to find out!
Let’s start with what everyone knows and should know about: every business needs a brand. The market is a grueling battlefield with competition here and there.
No matter how novel or unique you think your services or products may be, there would always be other companies that can offer the same or similar services or products to customers.
Here’s another fact: branding, the process of managing and curating a brand, is a highly misunderstood concept. Because of its nature, numerous clashing definitions of this idea arose from the disciplines of business, marketing, graphic design, and even among consumers.
To truly understand the essence of a brand, usually consulting with branding agency uk is recommended. If that is an option that is not available as of the moment, here’s a jumpstart on things you may not know (and should know) about branding that would hopefully demystify the misconceptions and give you a clearer direction towards what you want your brand to be.
Table of Contents
1. A Brand Means Different Things in Different Fields.
As mentioned earlier, different definitions from different people in their respective fields arose to define what a brand is. Defining a brand is a matter of pragmatics; the meaning changes based on whether you are working on brands as a business owner, an advertiser, or a graphic designer to name a few professional roles.
The intersection and interchanging of these definitions developed several nuances that gave different meanings to branding.
The issue is one of the things branding solutions UK will resolve among clients. Getting a consultation from them would guarantee you the understanding and resources you need to establish your own brand that will last.
2. A Brand Is Not the Logo nor the Product.
When we think of a brand, the first thing that usually pops up in our heads is the company’s logo or their products. The logo is the symbol that represents a company it makes us think of the company and its products and services and in logo design, the brand is often used interchangeably with the visual elements of the company, but that is not the case.
The logo and everything associated with it are not the brand itself. Instead, it is an intangible concept and an orchestrated phenomenon that acts as a tool to instill the thought, presence, and promises of the company.
3. A Brand Is a State of Human Mind.
A brand is abstract and psychological. It describes what happens inside the heads of consumers when they see either the logo or the product and how they relate and represent with the company.
In a video podcast hosted by Chris Do from “The Futr”, Marty Neumeier, a renowned American author on brand and design among many things, gave one of the best definitions of this concept.
“A brand is a result. It is a customer’s gut feeling about a product, service, or a company. It ends up in their heads [and] in their hearts.”
To phrase this in another manner, a brand is the perception of customers toward the company and its products and services. Ideally, one should curate the business brand to be something with a personality that seeks for customer satisfaction through excellence in their products and services.
While this is a general goal, different approaches and technicalities will have integrated to make a brand truly yours.
4. The Brand Spells Life and Death for Your Business.
Managing a commercial business or rendering your services without developing a solid and stable brand is like skydiving as a beginner without a parachute nor an instructor.
You will plummet to the ground and there will be no escaping once you take the fall. You just can’t barge in unprepared! Although “winging it” is can get you to places at times, it’s always a hit or miss; it won’t guarantee you to be at where you need to be.
Having a stable brand can solve this by differentiating yourself from the other companies out there. It is the foundation of your business that should set the tone and the personality of how things would work here.
These should be reflected in the quality of the products and services, the marketing, and customer service. This way, people would have a more solid insight on what your company is all about when they see your logo.
5. Your Reputation and Identity Are Linked to Your Brand.
Speaking of life and death, your brand can and will dictate how your performance will fare. The fastest way to kill a business is to betray the company’s brand.
Your brand is the company’s soul; it acts as a promise and assurance to the audience that earns their trust. Having a strong brand creates customer loyalty and recognition which likewise leads to higher sales and engagement.
However, if you would neglect it or worse, betray the values, customers would start losing faith. The business would then spiral down from there until the brand is reinforced once more or reparations have been made to rectify the betrayal of the brand.
6. Creating A Brand Doesn’t Start When Conceptualizing Your Company Assets and End When You Create Them
Doing this to start a business along with the company values, products, and services is one thing. Building the brand from square one to a level of general recognition and trust among the public is another hurdle which you have to jump over and over again.
Once you have established a brand, the work doesn’t stop there; the real work begins from there.
Enforcing the brand and staying true to it is the consistent and laborious work that must be maintained every day in order to keep morale among employees high, to ensure customer loyalty, and to uphold the reputation as derived from the brand.
Since you cannot control other people’s thoughts and impressions, your goal is to devise strategies on your marketing, products, and services to induce a specific image on the company in the minds of people.
7. Investment on Your Brand Is Just as Essential as the Business Operations
Branding is very difficult and intricate to pull off, especially if you’re a beginner. Having a successful business is demanding as you need to stand out among countless other competition to ensure its survival.
Often times, you’ll hit a dead end wondering why you can’t get a consistent stream of customers and clients or why your products and services doesn’t get any hype at all.
If you don’t do things right, you could end up with a bankrupt business and a series of countless losses.
This is why consultations and training from branding solutions UK services are usually recommended to starters and even with veterans in the business world.
Establishing a brand is a lot of work and it will be the foundation of the business you will be managing, so you have to do it right at the first stages of setting up your business so that everything else will follow smoothly.
Some Final Thoughts
In life, finding our own individuality and voice are very important to us. The things we stand for, our morals, and the aspects in our lives are some of the numerous essentials in developing our identity as a person.
The same can be attributed to establishing a brand. You are not just setting up a channel to sell products and offer services; you are also bringing yourself in the brand as you give it purpose, direction, and personality.
With the stakes being this high, you have got to do it right.
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Author Bio
At Seek Social Dean Braiden is one of our two directors, and the leader of our marketing team. Dean can provide all the digital marketing insight your business will need, and if you choose to take advantage of data science support from Seek Social Dean and his expertise will again have a big role to play.