What is branding? Understanding its importance in business

Branding is a creative work, without a doubt. It requires a team’s and stakeholders' effort during the process to get everyone's opinion, gather feedback and introduce necessary changes.

There is a lot that takes part in a brand, and there is a need to consider a lot of factors when building a strong brand. Here is how you can create a brand or initiate the process of rebranding your business:

Plan a Brand Strategy

Planning a brand strategy refers to describing the process by which an organization will establish rapport with the market. This is a way to make a company stand out from the competitors. With a well-defined and effectively implemented strategy, you can influence every area of your business associated with customers' demands, feelings, and competitive conditions.

We have broken down key elements of brand strategy to help keep your firm relevant for decades.

Functional purpose

It evaluates performance based on immediate economic goals such as money.

Intentional purpose

It evaluates success by both making money and accomplishing good in the world.

Consistent message

When promoting your business, make sure to avoid unnecessary ideas and be consistent. With a consistent message, you can provide a solid foundation for your brand and ensure its recognition.

Adaptability to market changes

It is essential for marketers to adapt to this changing world. They will benefit from it with creative freedom for campaigns. Though consistency is necessary, by incorporating flexibility you can increase attention and make your strategy different from the competitors.

Customer loyalty

If your business, products or services are already being appreciated by customers, reward them for their loyalty. It will help you in more repeat business and bring great financial gains.

Create brand identity

You are easily recognizable to your customers with the help of brand identity. Elements like logo, colour, and design play a role in communicating brand messages. It is often confused with brand image and branding, which is the public perception of your brand and the process of creating a brand, respectively. The brand identity reflects the visual and emotional aspects that distinguish your brand.

Take the example of Nike which has an iconic swoosh logo, consistent message and memorable slogan. It greatly reflects its brand identity to help build customer loyalty and shape the perception of the brand in front of customers.

For creating a brand identity, you will need to know the core components of your brand, such as purpose, values, personality, brand voice, and unique positioning. With a clear understanding of these components, you can build an identity to communicate who you are to your customers.

Develop brand positioning

Brand positioning is all about shaping how you want customers to see your brand. It involves the creation of a specific affinity when selling products or creating content. It's related to setting your brand apart from competitors, even from those with similar products. Here are a few things you will need to do if you want to develop a successful brand positioning strategy.

• Identify the primary needs of your target audience and give them possible solutions.

• Find out why the target market should trust your brand. You must focus on the value proposition of your brand. Determine how it can help meet the demands in a better way compared to competitors.

• Highlight the varying features of your brand that set it apart from others in the market.

• Develop a plan to communicate the brand positioning in an effective way using marketing channels.

Brand Implementation

In brand implementation, you plan and execute a brand strategy using project management methods. The strategy then turns into logic where new brands are guided with rebranding efforts and campaigns.

For successful implementation, the strategy must be result-oriented. Companies often rely on brand ambassadors to achieve this. Brand ambassadors are trained staff who apply and support these strategies internally and externally. Other methods include establishing brand steering group and providing management training.

After creation of this strategy a company should ask if each new action supports the brand. This reflects that brand implementation is a continuous process without boundaries that require consistent refinement and improvement.

Establish a brand message

It is important to establish a brand message to help the public recognize your company whenever it positions itself. The message must include a thorough definition of ideas rooted in the core values of the company.

The presentation of a brand is greatly influenced by the way it spreads its message. The message is usually shaped by the category, products and services of the company. If a company has a consistent message pattern, it can easily convey its brand's intentions and key values to the audience. Here is how you can deliver your brand message with the help of an established framework.

Find your target audience

The first thing you should do is to find your target audience. You must have clear insights on who you are communicating with. As 70% of consumers prefer personalized experience, it's your responsibility to set your brand that resonates with the audience.

You must understand to whom will your branding address? Who is your ideal customer? Who does your product serve? What is the purpose of creating this business?

Once you get all the answers, it will help you make branding decisions.

Make a mission statement

To find out the reason for creating a certain business can be determined by making a mission statement. It is essential for you to understand what your business has to give to its audience, considering their values. Then, try to make every part of your brand clear to reflect that mission. You can work on a brand's logo, tagline, imagery, personality, and voice.

You can also get help from success stories to create an effective brand message. Some credible references that make sense for your brand can also be used to organize the pattern of brand messages or missions.

Pay attention to market trends

Many positive developments occur in markets that can prove beneficial to your brand. But it is important to stay true to your company's core principles and avoid departing due to these developments. Your main focus should be on the pattern of these developments.

For example, a communication sector like a laboratory truly reflects societal value and technological changes. If you study these patterns, you can adapt the brand message of your company to stay relevant. You can achieve it while staying true to your core values.

Define your values, qualities, and benefits

You might see a lot of businesses similar to yours in the market which can increase competition. But what one thing is unique about your business that no one can copy is your brand. So, it is important to create a brand based on unique values, benefits and qualities that solely belong to you.

Find your brand voice

Think of what your brand would sound like if you had a conversation with it. The brand voice is also a major part of successful branding. The brand voice must connect and resonate with the target audience because without it no one will pay attention to your brand.

Set a consistent tone whether you are running advertising campaigns, or writing blog posts, brand stories and Instagram captions. 

Manage and expand your brand

As branding is an ongoing process, a successful brand keeps on evolving. If you want to manage your brand, here are a few steps you can take.

If you want everyone to recognize your brand and have trust in it, never forget about the significance of consistency. It is good to have a positive brand reputation and companies do their best to avoid bad ones at any cost. Even if you are planning to rebrand your business to overcome some challenges, having a positive reputation will be beneficial for the long run.

For brand management, keep your word and deliver on your promises. Try to establish an open and continuous dialogue between your brand and customers online and offline.

Once you have established your brand, let it grow and expand through brand extension. In this way you can increase brand awareness and revenue. You have to be careful in this regard, as using the wrong approach can also lead to brand dilution.

Communicate with brand guidelines

These are also referred to as brand style guides that set the rules for how you can communicate your brand. All visual elements are associated with the brand message; tone and voice are part of it. Brand guidelines usually come in a digital and printed booklet form. The following things are included in the overall brand standards, logos, icons, primary and secondary colour palettes, font style, size, and spacing, illustration, photos, and artwork, and brand language and emotion.

These elements of visual identity are important to demonstrate your worth to all demographics. Once you have created and established a brand, integrate it throughout every inch of your business with the help of a website, social media, packaging, advertising, and customer service.