Branding

To understand branding, it is important to know what brands are. A brand is the

idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by
identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea
or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is
recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or
product when there are many other companies offering the same service or
product. Advertising professionals work on branding not only to build brand
recognition, but also to build good reputations and a set of standards to which
the company should strive to maintain or surpass. Branding is an important part
of Internet commerce, as branding allows companies to build their reputations
as well as expand beyond the original product and service, and add to the
revenue generated by the original brand.
When working on branding, or building a brand, companies that are using web
pages and search engine optimization have a few details to work out before
being able to build a successful brand. Coordinating domain names and brand
names are an important part of finding and keeping visitors and clients, as well
as branding a new company. Coordination of a domain name and brand names
lends identification to the idea or image of a specific product or service, which
in turn lets visitors easily discovery the new brand.
Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be
difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that
you answer the questions below:
 What is your company's mission?
 What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
 What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
 What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?
Do your research. Learn the needs, habits and desires of your current and
prospective customers. And don't rely on what you think they think. Know what
they think. Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here
are a few simple, time-tested tips:
 Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.

 Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you want
to communicate about your brand? Every employee should be aware of
your brand attributes.

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  Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your business--
how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople wear on sales
calls, your e-mail signature, everything.

 Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your brand. This voice
should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the
visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be
conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.

 Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement

that captures the essence of your brand.

 Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing

materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel
throughout. You don't need to be fancy, just consistent.

 Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to

someone else--if you don't deliver on your brand promise.

 Be consistent. This tip involves all the above and is the most important
tip on this list. If you can't do this, your attempts at establishing a brand
will fail.

Branding is also a way to build an important company asset, which is a good

reputation. Whether a company has no reputation, or a less than stellar
reputation, branding can help change that. Branding can build an expectation
about the company services or products, and can encourage the company to
maintain that expectation, or exceed them, bringing better products and services
to the market place.

 Brand report card is a process, which may be used by the companies to

periodically audit their brands’ strengths and weaknesses on certain relevant
product characteristics and comparing these with the strong brands in the
same product category. Kevin Lane Keller in a HBR article (2000)has identified
10 attributes that would measure the strength of the brands and constructed a
report card.
The traits can be listed as follows:

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1. The brand excels at delivering the benefits customers truly desire -
Branding brings in the relationship between the way we project our
products and the way customers accept it. It is very important to
understand what the customers actually want and deliver the same.
2. The brand stays relevant - Keep pace with the requirements of the
customer's preference which is subject to change periodically a thus stay
relevant.
3. The pricing strategy is based on consumers’ perceptions of value - Value
pricing should not be adopted at the expense of essential brand-building
activities
4. The brand is properly positioned - Studies the strength on the basis of two
variables - point of parity (thereby neutralizing the competitors’
advantages) and point of difference (thereby achieving advantages over
competitors)
5. The brand is consistent - Keeping the right balance between continuance
in marketing activities and the kind of change needed to stay relevant
6. The brand portfolio and hierarchy make sense - Studies the strength of the
brand based on its portfolio and the way it is arrived at. Single product
lines are often sold under different brand names, and different brands
within a company hold different powers.
7. The brand makes use of and coordinates a full range
of marketing activities to build equity - Measures the ability of the brand
to reach the target customers and create value and thereby create brand
equity.
8. The brand’s managers understand what the brand means to consumers - If
its clear what customers like and don’t like about a brand, and what core
associations are linked to the brand, then it should also be clear whether
any given action will reinforce the brand or create friction
9. The brand is given proper support and that support is sustained over the
long run
10. The company monitors sources of brand equity - Creating brand equity is
not an easy job but sustaining it is tougher. Strong brands generally make
good and frequent use of in-depth brand audits and ongoing brand-
tracking studies.

Examples of Branding in Marketing

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 Lifestyle branding
The first time that some U.S. consumers ever heard of the Chobani yogurt brand
was when the company ran TV ads as a sponsor of the 2012 Summer Olympic
team. This company used variations on its name to build its brand through
social media websites. For example, on Pinterest, where users pin images of
their favorite things on a virtual board, the company has created a board where
it posts amusing pictures related to its brand. SocialMediaToday.com's Mike
Volpe explains how this technique is the company's way of "promoting the
lifestyle its products promote." Even in a locally-run small business, you can
use strategies, such as giving away hundreds of logo-printed T-shirts at big
events, to get your company symbol or design out there. When you use social
media, however, to launch an aspect of your brand, your cost could be zero.

Stylized designs
Some companies choose to link their brand with an image directly related to
their name and then reinvent it for different product lines. For instance, the
Apple Corporation's rainbow-colored apple has evolved, having been featured
on many computer product labels over three decades. Now, the Apple is seen in
other forms, such as a solid, silver apple printed on the white packaging of the
iPhone 4. If your company doesn't need product labels because you sell
services, you can still use a stylized design in other places, such as on your
website, stationery or mobile app.

Emotional branding
Your small business can use emotional branding to establish relationships with
customers. They have to associate some kind of emotion with your brand.
"Forbes" contributor Steve Goodson suggests that the emotional connection to
the Apple brand continued after the 2011 death of the founder, 56-year-old
Steve Jobs. Goodson suggests that customers were willing to tolerate technical
problems with Apple's iOS 5 operating system and the iPhone 4S battery,
among other things, because of their emotional connection to Jobs. In a small
business, emotional branding could be as simple as giving away a free gift to
customers on their birthday, such as when Starbucks mails a coupon for a free
drink to its rewards program members.

Jingles
A brand symbol is not always something customers can see or touch. Some
companies use real jingles or fake jingles to connect to an audience. A catchy
jingle inspires customers to talk about a product after the ad campaign ends. For
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example, Denny's Restaurants ran a 2009 Super Bowl ad that attracted 2 million
customers in a single day; the star was a singing banana named Nannerpus. If
you plan a radio ad, online video or TV spot, you could hire a professional
jingle writer's services. When set to music, a jingle is easy to remember.