Can you imagine what would happen if all the people in the world had the same look? How would we recognize each other? In reality, each of us has a unique identity. The same applies to products on the market. People are looking for a specific product that satisfies their needs.
Management theorists in the mid-1980s brought the idea that successful companies must produce brands rather than products. This idea has grown into an obsession with branding and advertising. Therefore one of the keys to business success today is maintaining the brand's strength.
What is a brand?
In short, a brand is a mixture of features that symbolize the trademark. Trademark creates value and influence. The brand is starting to be valued as capital.
The connection between branding and corporations?
In the corporate world, everything is an advertisement for brands, from company names, packaging, uniforms, documentation, and exhibitions to directors. Kraft's purchase by Philip Morris for $12.6 million was the beginning of this trend. The mentioned sum was six times the actual accounting value of Kraft which means In this transaction, the brand name received a huge value. At the time, it was spectacular for the advertising industry.
So, advertising is no longer a sales strategy, but an investment in the net worth of shareholder capital.
Walter Landor, a branding pioneer, once said: "Products are manufactured in factories, but brands are created in the mind." Brands are intangible assets – logos, designs, symbols or experiences – that live in the minds of interest groups. They create economic value by boosting cash flows, and income or reducing costs. There is a direct link between the strength of the brand and future cash flows that raise the value of the company. Branding is based on creating differences.
Many companies think brand-building ends when they determine the brand's name and logo. It is true that the name and logo are the brand's identity but anyone who passes through the supermarket will see thousands of brand identities. That means the name of your brand won't mean much to customers who are not informed.
David Aaker, a brand-building expert, says that the brand not only defines functionality but also expresses the higher purpose of the brand's existence. A higher purpose lies in the emotional and social benefit that comes from choosing a particular brand. For example, Coca-Cola's functional purpose is to "alleviate thirst with good taste." Its higher purpose is to "deliver happiness."
The value of the brand
The value of the brand and its growth are essential for any company since brands influence customer choice which affects sales.
From a consumer perspective, the value of the brand is a promise and an experience. From a business point of view, it's income insurance in the future. From a legal standpoint, the brand is intellectual property. For example, Ford lobbied its logo as a security instrument to secure a $23.5 billion loan during the 2008 recession.
Brands help customers recognize products they like or dislike, thus making it easier to purchase products that meet their needs. The brand also can have a psychological impact on the buyer because it is a status symbol, such as Rolex.
The notion of a brand is more related to the feelings than to the qualities we associate with it. It is because people like to control. Lack of control usually causes worry and stress. Thus brands are the perfect commercial response to schizophrenic human nature and our desire to express individuality.
Brands are seductive and soothing
If the average person knows about 50,000 words, while in America there are 2,500,000 registered brands, then how can we expect an average person to associate a brand with multiple attributes? Branding creators claim the brand's success lies in authenticity. Once they catch a buyer, companies will never leave him alone. They'll follow him at work, on vacation, in his sleep and on the phone, twenty-four hours a day. Big companies invest in market research while mastering their brand's tools. Psychometric research enters the human psyche, identifying motives, reactions, hidden desires, expectations, etc. A brand's name usually provokes associations. It's about the image of a company, a politician or a product.
Branding and image
Image is what the public believes the company is. However, public perception does not always have to reflect the actual organizational profile. The desired image may be misunderstood. Through corporate image, the company presents what it stands for, what its products are, its customers, its economic indicators and its reputation.
Successful business assumes a high-ranking image that reflects ethics, satisfying the interests of customers, employees, business partners, government and society, in a different way than the competition. The positive image of the brand is a kind of promise to customers and shareholders. It contains added value, ensures customer loyalty, and provides the product with a competitive advantage over other products.
On the other hand, the value of the company grows in proportion to the amount of investment in advertising. Be aware that consumers have had a lot of negative experiences in marketing in the last twenty years. They are no longer ready to accept everything that is imposed on them.
A game where everyone wins
One of the important elements of building a corporate identity is influencing the social (sports and cultural) life of the community and enabling identification with target groups. You should target not only the minds of customers but their hearts and souls. The concept of emotional marketing is described in several books, including "Experimental marketing" by Bernd Schmitt.
We live in a time of consumer empowerment driven by rich information. Thus, brands without legitimacy will not survive when word of mouth becomes a new medium for advertising. Don't exercise control over the consumer community. Let them market you. Be consistent with the purpose of your brand, honesty and originality.
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