Brand management is the process in which a business creates value for its brand.
What does this mean? First, it’s essential to understand that “brand” can mean different things to different people.
What one person calls their brand another might call their reputation. What you think of when you hear the word “branding” may be very different from what an advertising agency considers branding.
What’s important to remember is that many people use the terms “brand” and “branding” as if they were interchangeable, but they’re not.
So, what is branding?
Branding is the process of building a promise around a product, service or company.
What does this mean? This means that branding is all about communicating what your business will do for its customer.
What you get when you purchase your product or use your service should be clearly defined by how people perceive your brand.
The key to successful branding lies in understanding what motivates consumers. What are the emotions they experience while using your product or service? What are their unique needs and desires?
What problems are they trying to solve by purchasing your products or using your services?
How can these needs be translated into benefits that communicate exactly why someone should buy from you rather than from another company offering similar products and services?
Understanding what motivates your customers is essential to building a brand that will stand out in their minds.
Building a brand requires consistency. What does this mean? What you communicate through your advertising, marketing, and public relations efforts must be consistent with what you’re saying about yourself on your website, social media marketing, and all of your other communications channels.
What’s more, the look of your office space, the design of your business cards and stationery, even the tone of voice used by employees on the phone or in-person must convey one unified message about who you are as a company.
This continuity builds trust among consumers because it helps them understand what to expect every time they do business with you.
The three components of branding are Product, Price, Promotion.
Product
What does this mean? What’s the difference between these three elements, and how do they work together to build a brand?
When you think about your product or service, you want to keep in mind that it isn’t just what you’re offering. What else can be offered along with your product or service?
What makes your business different from others like it? What problem will customers experience if they choose not to buy from you? These questions will help determine exactly what should be communicated through your Product.
Price
Price is all about communication and differentiation.
What does this mean? There are two parts to pricing: How much you charge for your products/services and how those prices compare to what competitors charge for similar/services.
Understanding how much people are willing to pay is essential when it comes to setting a price.
What’s more, pricing can be used strategically to build a brand and communicate value.
For example, you might choose a high price point for your products or services to convey that they’re of high quality.
What’s the right price? It depends on what you want your customers to think about when they see your price.
Promotion
Promotion communicates many different things about your business.
What does this mean? How will people find out about your business if they don’t already know who you are?
What channels do you plan on using—direct mail, email marketing, social media platforms, local events?
What tone of voice should be used for all promotional efforts –fun and casual, or professional and serious? What will people learn about your company through your promotional efforts?
All of the brand elements work together to create a perception. What does this mean? What people think and feel and what they actually experience when you interact with them must align.
If someone’s experience is negative, it can damage their perception of you as a business and destroy the trust that you’ve worked hard to build over time.
What things can be done to create an ideal customer experience? What activities should be planned for employees to keep them focused on making sure customers are having a great (and consistent) experience every time they do business with you?
Your promotion, product, and price all play key roles in determining how consumers respond to your brand.
When it comes to the idea of a brand, most people immediately think of the company’s name or logo, but in reality, there are many different sorts of brands. Take a look at the following instances:
- Wordmarks: a name derived from a sequence of letters and digits
- Graphic marks: Elements such as logos, symbols, drawings, and other graphic components related to the trademark
- Mixed or figurative marks: letters, numbers, and graphical symbols are used in these.
- Sound marks: A jingle or series of sounds.
Every strong brand identity requires 8 universal branding elements that are common to all.
The fundamental components of everything are atoms.
Yes, the rest of those squares with numerals and two-letter monikers are very important. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is vital to brand building.
Every item in the world is composed of a combination of these elements or core values.
Every brand, no matter how big or small, is composed of the same components of branding, such as a logo, a color palette, and a unique consumer experience.
1. Logo
Every brand has a logo. It’s a mark, symbol or signature that helps identify an organization, business, etc.
The logo is, without a doubt, the most important element of branding since you’ll be hard-pressed to discover a brand that doesn’t have one. It’s also arguably the most essential aspect of branding since no other component is as essential as it.
Your brand’s logo is on almost every element of your business: your cards, your website, your products, your social media profiles, and so on.
What is the purpose of a logo? What you choose to put into your business’s logo will communicate something about your business to your customers/clients.
Many, many brands have well-known logos, like McDonald’s Golden Arches (shown below) or Apple’s apple.
2. Color Palette
Branding colors are specific hues that express a certain mood or vibe to your audience.
Color schemes is also an important component of any brand’s visual design. Take a look at the following color swatches and see if you can figure out which company they represent.
Color is so crucial to branding that some firms have trademarked their distinctive brand colors.
Why is color so essential? Colors communicate important principles and personality characteristics.
3. Shape
Another aspect of a complete branding campaign is the shape.
The shapes that make up your logo and those that can be seen in your web page backgrounds, layout designs, packaging, and even business cards and promotional items.
Determine which forms best represent your brand’s personality as you build your brand identity. Keep in mind that you aren’t restricted to one shape or type of shape; if your company’s appearance demands two or more shapes, use them.
4. Tagline
A tagline is a short phrase that serves to describe or identify your business.
A tagline is an essential branding element, as it gives you a way to communicate your business’s values and goals.
It’s not always easy to spot a good deal, particularly when it comes to food. For example, Subway’s “Eat Fresh” motto is rather obvious. To set themselves apart from other fast food companies, Subway positioned itself as a healthy alternative by using the phrase “Eat Fresh.”
The tagline for your logo is a sentence or two that explains more about it. It’s not simply a description of what you do; it also tells people what to anticipate.
5. Tone of voice and vocabulary
A brand’s tone of voice is defined by a set of words.
The tone of voice for a brand is the voice you hear in all brand-generated material, such as the emails you receive from them, their website content, and the language they use on social media.
One of the most powerful methods to influence—and transform—how others perceive your brand is through your tone of voice.
6. Fonts
Another essential component of branding is the typefaces used by a company.
The font used for text, such as in a logo, on a website, or in an email template isn’t random—it’s carefully chosen to express the brand’s personality and values.
Like colors, the parts of typefaces have different meanings. Take a look at these logos and focus on what the fonts say about their companies:
7. Imagery
The term “imagery” refers to all of the visual element you utilize in your branding, marketing materials, and advertising.
This isn’t your logo or any of the content you produce; it’s the pictures and stock images you choose, the style of your website’s graphics, and other brand assets.
Consider gradients and patterned backgrounds, packing or banners—you don’t need concrete imagery to effectively represent a brand; you may easily do so with abstract imagery by utilizing your shape and color combinations.
Color and form are also linked to brand imagery.
8. Positioning
The category in which a brand specializes is known as positioning.
The positioning of a company has an immediate influence on its branding. A low-cost firm, for instance, that wants to convey that it is the most cost-effective alternative might utilize bright, value-communicating hues such as yellow and orange and develop a brand voice that is simple, pleasant, and hopeful.
Interaction with other brands, both within the same industry and across different industries, is necessary for brand positioning.
