Creating brands is an art form that extends beyond just slapping your company name onto something and waiting for people to recognize you. It includes designing clever packaging, engaging in promotional activities, and developing relationships with other stakeholders in your market space. All of these things contribute to creating a strong brand image that people associate with your product or service. Brand marketing involves a lot.
It’s not enough simply to have a well-known brand — clearly, Coca Cola has mastered this! — but instead you need to consistently put in effort into branding yourself and your business.
At its most basic level, marketing is telling someone what products or services you have and getting them to believe that they are better than the ones they already have. I know, sounds simple enough, right?!? But making money off of it takes more than that.
Brand marketers take their time making sure that everything about their company matches up with their message. They spend lots of energy promoting their products via social media, through conversations, and by doing related acts.
Definition of branding
Creating a brand is more than just having your business logo and color scheme, it’s about creating an overall impression that people will remember for positive reasons. It’s establishing relationships with your customers and potential customers through consistent messaging and experiences.
Your company brand becomes what people think of you when they hear your name or see your products. In fact, according to Harvard Business School, 94% of consumers consider the price while only 2-5% look at quality in their buying decision. So although the quality is important to keep up, focusing on branding instead may be the better strategy.
Branding isn’t something done exclusively by marketing departments, it goes beyond that! Every department in your organization can play a role in developing your company brand. Product managers, accountants, executives — everyone has a voice in how others perceive your company.
That’s why we like to call this concept internal branding. Even if you don’t have a marketing job yet, you can still do your part to develop your brand and make your colleagues aware of it. You might not get credit for it, but you’ll leave a lasting impact.
Relationship between marketing and branding
While both marketing and branding can be described as tools to promote a product or service, they each have their special meaning.
Branding refers to creating an emotional connection with potential customers through repeated exposure to the company’s name, image, and products. This is what makes it different from advertising, which is more about grabbing people’s attention for a short time to motivate them to buy a product.
Marketing includes activities such as publicizing a product, finding new ways to get that product in front of consumers, and negotiating how much you should spend on advertisements while staying within your budget.
Both marketing and branding are important parts of any successful business because without one, the other will not work. However, only use one tool at a time! Use marketing tactics to gain publicity for a product, then switch over to using brand strategies to influence buying decisions.
Examples of marketing
Creating brands is not an easy task, but it is something you can do! Brands are like personalities that people associate with your business or product. They come together when design, advertising, and online and offline strategies are used to promote them.
Design: How your products look including logos, colors, and styles
Advertising: Public announcements and promotions designed to draw attention to your brand
Online media: Websites, social media profiles, and other digital platforms using branding techniques
Offline: Conducting activities related to your brand (business meetings, events, etc.)
When these components work in unison, then people will know about your brand and what services or products you have.
Examples of branding
Creating brands is not an easy task, but it’s something that you can do if you are passionate about what you want to achieve. You need to know how marketing works, and then you can apply this knowledge to create your brand.
Many people create products with logos and catchy slogans that go along with them, but they fail to develop an audience or connect with others around their product.
This is why we sometimes call these things “marketing stunts.” Companies will launch new campaigns to get attention for themselves by drawing more eyes toward their product.
But aside from being interesting, these strategies usually don’t last, which is why most of them fail.
What makes a lasting brand is when there is always someone able to identify with the company and its messages. This is what creates loyal customers who come back time after time.
There are many ways to build a strong brand, and some work better than others depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
In this article, you will learn all about one of the key components of any successful business — branding.
Touchpoints in brand marketing
When talking about brand marketing, there is a very common misconception that brands are only products or logos. This is not true at all! Brands also include advertisements, media platforms, and experiences you have to work to access them.
This is called a touchpoint. For example, research shows that 70% of people will avoid buying a product from direct-marketing advertisements because they feel it’s too pushy.
So, instead of going door-to-door pitching your new car company, use advertising as a vehicle to promote your brand. Create content targeted towards those who may be interested in your car company and feature photos and descriptions of what makes your cars unique.
Then, put together an email campaign and send messages through different channels (such as social media, printed flyers, etc.) To make sure the message gets received, do some preliminary investigation to see if anyone else has done business with your car company and see if they are happy with their experience.
If so, then great — you’ve got a solid reputation to build upon! But if not, then start gathering feedback and responding accordingly.
Touchpoints in branding
Building strong brands is not an easy feat. With the amount of competition out there, creating a brand that people recognize is no small task.
However, everything you do for your business can be considered a marketing tactic. These things are called marketing touchpoints or activities.
As you develop and grow your business, more advanced strategies such as brand building emerge. This includes all areas of marketing from advertising to website design, media coverage, and beyond.
One important area of marketing activity is what we refer to as the “brand”. A well-defined brand creates interest in who it is designed for and why it would want to use its products or services.
A good example of this is Coca Cola. Even though most of us drink their beverages every day, few know exactly what the Coke logo means. It is a circle with the phrase “The Real Thing” underneath.
That word — real thing — sets off alarm bells for some due to the perception of fake or exaggerated goods. But for others, it is simply a recognizable shape that reminds them of delicious drinks.
Whether subconsciously aware of it or not, everyone has an idea about what the Coke brand stands for. When companies actively work to strengthen this image, it helps create loyalty and repeat customers.
Creating your brand and strategizing brand marketing
As we have discussed before, branding is creating or defining a unique identity for a product or service. With a little trick in marketing, you can take something new and make it seem familiar to people.
Brands do this by establishing patterns and styles that people recognize as being yours. For example, Coca-Cola uses its refreshing beverage logo and advertising style that has people associating them with water and snacks.
They also use catchy slogans such as “The Best Drink In The World” and “Enjoy One Less Reason To Make Life A Mess.” These types of phrases are recognizable because they sound like products that exist already.
By using strategies similar to theirs, you can create your brand. You can even build upon brands’ strong identities to add to what makes them successful.
How to start a business that involves brand marketing
Starting your own business is an incredible way to make yourself happy and wealthy! A growing number of people create their businesses every year, making it one of the top career choices. While most definitely not for everyone, owning a business can be a lucrative side income or even a primary source of revenue if you market correctly.
Many entrepreneurs begin by creating a product or service that they are passionate about and then look into ways to get more customers for their products. That’s where marketing comes in!
Brand marketing isn’t just something that big companies do – the average American household runs a small business within their community almost every day. Most of them don’t know what kind of marketing is effective though, so they fail to use it
