Branding is synonymous with marketing and advertising for many people. But what is branding and how can you make it work for you? The idea consists of a multi-faceted approach to how your company presents itself to the world.
Branding involves creating a clear association in the minds of consumers between your company and certain traits, images, and ideas. The visual aspects of a campaign, including the images, fonts, and logos, are a big part of it. Catchphrases, slogans, and theme songs can also play a role. Branding is, to most people, just these things.
But branding presentation is also about creating connections between your company and ideals and feelings. While creating these connections is harder, it’s also stronger. Companies with positive brand recognition create a sense of trust in consumers. While icons and slogans get the bulk of the attention, it is these other connections that really drive consumer behavior. People don’t think of the mascot or the words, but rather how they feel about your company and when they have positive associations with the brand, they are more likely to seek out your products and services.
Branding is the underlying theme in any advertising or marketing campaign. While companies can and do create ad campaigns that are stand-alone marketing campaigns, having a solid branding strategy that underlies your ads can be an advantage. Having a cohesive strategy can save you from conflicting ad campaigns, which may have individual appeal but that can ultimately turn off customers who can’t understand the overall goal. It can also make the process of creating ad campaigns easier. If you already know what you want your brand identity to be, it gives you a good place to start when it comes to creating ads.
Who should consider branding? Every company needs to think about what their branding strategy is going to be. This includes new companies that need to create a client base and build market share. Even companies that have been around for a while can benefit from revisiting their branding campaigns. For example, a company with an old or outdated branding campaign can find new customers with a new branding approach. If your company’s brand has been tarnished by events, actions, or negative publicity, you’ll also want to think about launching a new branding campaign to restore your image or create an entirely new one.
If branding is something you’ve been thinking about, a branding expert might be able to help you. If you aren’t sure how exactly the process works, or which approach is right for your company, you might want to try a branding workshop or presentation. You can get a good overview of the topic this way, as well as get introduced to branding approaches and current trends. This way, you can learn a bit more before you agree to work with any particular expert. Find out more ideas about Martin Lindstrom, the branding guru.
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