“Branding”
- What is reality?
- What is the basis of Branding?
- What is a brand and branding?
- Why a brand can be powerful?
- How to create a new brand?
What is reality?
Is there such a thing as reality? Do our beliefs reflect how things really are? BMW is the most well made car. Vermont is the most beautiful state in America. “My church is the correct or true church.”
The fact is there is no reality, only perception. There is not a best made car. Only the brand of car we “think” is the best made. You may think Vermont is the most beautiful state, but I think Utah is.
Perception is reality. We think Coke is the best brand, but you may prefer Pepsi. Which is the real best cola? If you think you live in and experience the way things are, think again. Perception is what advertising and marketing is based upon.
What is the basis of Branding?
Before I explain what brand and branding is, you need to know what brands are based on. The basis of all brands is the unique selling proposition, USP. The USP is how a business or product makes itself different or better from the competition.
A business or a product must be different from all the competition so that customers know to show with it rather than another competitor. The USP could be having the lowest prices like Wal-Mart, or the fastest delivery like Domino’s Pizza, or the widest selection etc. It is something your business can offer the customer better than any competitor. Once you determine what your USP is, then you must create a representation of that USP.
What is a brand and branding?
That representation becomes the brand. It can be a name, a phrase or a visual representation such as a logo. For example: FedEx. Their USP is they deliver packages over night all over the world. When they started no other delivery company offered it. FedEx’s brand is a visual representation using the FedEx logo and colors. Every advertisement has that logo and corporate colors.
A brand stands for something. Quality, value, low prices, fastest delivery etc.
Del Monte is a premium brand of foods. The brand means higher quality, and better value. To me the brand represents high quality food. As a result I will pay a few cents more per can of green beans. I tried the cheaper no name and lesser known brands and was disappointed. I quickly went back to buying Del Monte brand.
A brand is a powerful marketing tool.
This indicates the power of a brand. Because consumers think a well branded product is a better value, they buy more of it rather than the competition. The idea of a brand is a concept in the mind of the consumer, not the name of a product. As stated before, perception is everything. What does the consumer perceive about the business or product?
How to create a brand.
- Determine the USP how is the product or business different and unique?
- Determine what visual symbols may stand for or represent that USP idea. What words, names, slogans can represent the USP?
Dominos Pizza: USP fast delivery pizza, Visual symbol: a domino
- Make the brand and symbol appear throughout the company in every place in every where.
- Media: media is used to communicate a message to a target customers or audiences. Whether TV, radio, newspaper, billboards etc. Every use of media must display the symbols, logos, corporate colors, and graphic design styles on the product or business name and slogan.
- Synergy is created by having all materials, products; business names have the same visual elements.
Large corporations can afford to spend millions of dollars to establish their brand awareness while small businesses don’t have that advantage. For small businesses to establish their brands, put the brand names, symbols, logos, colors and graphic styles on everything they use and have.
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