Branding Stands for Good Business

October 16th 2012 | By Steve Grant

Every business wants to be number one in the eyes of its customers and building and managing a brand plays a large part in making this happen. A strong brand presence will strengthen how a business is perceived.

What is Branding?

Branding represents what a company stands for and reaches into its products and services, advertising, design, voice, positioning, its staff and culture.  A brand grows strong through the power of association. For example, when you think of Apple products you think of innovation. John Lewis represents quality and value. BMW stands for performance.

The Benefits of Effective Branding

Branding is beneficial to all companies large and small, whether they serve the business sector or consumers. How can it make a company stand out from the competition?

• As customers know and trust your brand you can expect repeat business and loyalty.  Additionally, if and when you have to increase prices, customers will be more willing to accept this.
• Branding creates a sense of trust with customers. They know what to expect from you so it’s easier to market to them as there is less to prove.

How to Brand

Branding isn’t something you can just create. You can’t simply decide that your company will be ‘innovative’ or ‘high performance’. So how do you develop your branding so that it is true to your offering?

• Consider your company’s strengths and values.  These could be customer service, value for money, niche expertise, good communication, helpful and knowledgeable staff, etc. Focus everything you do around this core philosophy.
• Consider who your customers are and how you can match your offering to what they want. If you focus on high fashion, but your customer base is mostly students, you’ll have a mismatch on your hands.
• Conduct research amongst your current customers to find out what it is they like about your business and turn your focus to this.

Branding and Design

Brand identity forms the visual part of your profile and includes facets like your logo, voice, imagery and colour schemes. Strong design and messages are vital to back up brand identity. Consider the following:

• Be recognisable and memorable. Designs and messages should clearly reflect your brand values as well as your target audience.
• Consistency is key. Don’t falter here – make sure every individual aspect of your customer facing profile delivers the same message.
• Consider the way in which the quality of the identity is interpreted. For example, if you are selling to a premium audience, ensure this is reflected in the quality of your materials and the level of your design. If you are aiming at an environment-conscious audience, you may want to take steps to reduce the amount of printed material you distribute.

Need branding advice? We can help with every aspect from market placement to design.