Branding for Beginners

Quick Summary
In today’s competitive world of marketing and advertising, a key to success is building a strong brand. Branding involves developing a compelling, positive and lasting image of your business that creates an emotional connection with your customers. The strength of your company’s brand could mean the difference between struggling for recognition and sales or thriving as a dynamic, best-in-class business. In this article, we discuss several key aspects of branding.

Define Your Brand

Your brand is the image customers have of your business. Take the time to define your brand thoughtfully and early, so your company’s image is what you intend it to be.

Create a Brand Strategy

Create a clear and concise brand strategy and then execute it effectively and thoroughly.

Build Brand Equity

Brand equity is the value that your brand brings to your company. You can measure it in a number of ways, such as the price premium you can charge over a no-name product, or through long-term customer loyalty. You can strengthen your customers’ perception of your brand by applying the four-step Customer Based Brand Equity Model.

Create a Strong Visual Brand

Image plays a central role in branding, including visual elements. Key to this is a logo and a clearly recognizable look and feel for all your marketing materials.

Establish Your Brand's Voice

Your brand should have personality and character. A big part of that is a voice that is appropriate and reflects your brand. In creating your brand’s voice:

Be Consistent

Once you have created a brand, be consistent in how you present the brand in all your internal and external communications, including advertising, on social media, and in all employee-customer interactions.
 
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