What is the brand? This can be a difficult question to answer, the definition of the brand will change depending on who you ask. Brands can be different things, for different people, at different times.
Do you see how this can be complicated? Some think that a brand is a company, others think that a brand is what they feel for an organization, but in reality, a brand is a mixture of everything.
A brand is defined as a particular product or a characteristic of a service that serves to identify the product and service. It could also be a logo, either designed by an online logo creation tool or by a professional designer, a well-researched font, or a combination of many different aspects that help make your product memorable. Then comes the question of what the brand is.
Branding is a series of activities performed bymarketing consultantteams to help create an association between a potential customer and a product/service. Basically, all the things that will help you to connect a company and its product or services with certain designs and sensations.
Where did the Brand Start?
What the brand is now compared to what it was, let's take a look.
Long ago, the mark was used to denote ownership of something. The best-known examples of this type of mark were cows, which were often marked with numbers and symbols to make their ownership known.
Over the decades and multiple revolutions, branding became a way to differentiate yourself from the competition and build businesses. Many of the world's best-known brands such as Chanel, Ford Motor Company, and Coca-Cola were founded between 1880 and 1910. They stood out for offering something that was not yet available to the public at the time.
With efficient production and new products on the market, these brands launched themselves into advertising. Using the most effective platform at that time from radio, then to TV (now on social media).
As times changed, brands understood that they had to keep up. The rebranding and targeted marketing campaigns led customers to want more. Innovation, society and technology are the main factors that influence the direction of branding. Who knows where it will be in the next 100 years!
What is the Brand? Terms to know
There are many things that come up when you start thinking about abranding advisor. If you're starting your branding journey, here are some terms to get familiar with.
All of this will help you become more familiar with the world of branding. From strategy to the customers, all things must come together for a complete brand experience.
Awareness
Brand awareness is pretty simple. How familiar are people with your brand? Does the public know your logos, colours and products? Some companies choose to run marketing campaigns just to improve people's awareness and association.
You can start building your brand as thought leaders in a given industry by creating content for other industry leaders to share. Think how you can create your brand infographics, videos, and plan your influencer marketing. If you find this process difficult, then one thing you should consider is hiring a marketing and branding advisor.
Identity
Each person has a unique identity, like all brands. It's what your brand talks about; your values, how people feel about your company, and how you communicate to them. Your identity is the personality of your brand.
Your personality should be consistent with your identity, as consumers love brands they can know and trust. Your identity should be a focal point when you plan any of your marketing activities.
Management
Once you understand how people feel about your brand, you can decide how to act based on that information. If you like the reaction, you can participate inmarketing and branding specialistactivities to further promote it.
Otherwise, you may decide to change the course and try certain activities in the hope of improving your opinion. Good brand management can allow the price to rise while customer’s perception and satisfaction also improve. Remember;
‘Creating positive associations is the key to Brand Management.’
Capital
One of the biggest frustrations of marketers is reporting the ROI of their work. We all know that marketing is important, but how can it be shown? Brand equity is the business value of being a well-known brand.
How well are you meeting customer needs while building a strong relationship with them? This is reflected in market share, product demand, and most importantly, profitability.
Extension
If you've already established a really strong brand, you can use it in other ways. When launching a new product or service, you can use a stretch or brand extension strategy.
This will combine the great performance of a product to generate interest in the spin-off. Think Colgate, they started with toothpaste and now have toothbrushes, mouthwashes, and other dental products.
Brand elements
There are many things that make a brand what it is. The most obvious are a font, a logo, and some colours. But there are other things, like values and characteristics, that are more difficult to create, but very important to have.
If you've ever thought aboutbranding strategists, you're sure to know some of these.
Brand name
What's the brand without a great name to associate with? This can be a difficult decision for business owners. Deciding what to call your product, company, and organization can be a stressful decision.
Creating a name that is memorable, recognizable and different, but not too obscene, is difficult. Think of some of the biggest brands we know, mention the Apple world to a few people and they won't start talking about the fruit!
Logo
This icon, shape or series of letters is the visual representation of your brand. Your logo can represent a message that you want to share. If your brand is simple, your logo can be simple.
You can add the colours and fonts that you have chosen for your branding. Choose a form that you can edit based on a campaign. Like Smirnoff did support the LGBT community.
If you want to make a logo, Trece Hub has all the tools you need to stand out. Whether you are looking for a restaurant logo or one for your local religious organization or even your construction company. There is something for everyone.
And don't forget to test the logos with your team using some artwork approval software. These tools will save you from different types and tons of iterations.
Brand font
Text and typography. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Fonts have the ability to say a lot about your brand. Big, bold fonts like Passion One are clear to read, but fonts like Cormorant Garamond give the impression of elegance.
Whichever font you choose, allow it to complement your branding and style, but make sure it is still legible.
Brand colours
From the blue sky of Twitter to the black and yellow of Amazon. The colours you choose are essential to the image of any organization. Colours have other meanings that are important to consider when this page making a decision.
Whether you choose the primary colours or a combination of a few, the important thing is the reason of selecting a colour and to make sure that you don’t end up using too many colours. Keep things simple and uncomplicated.
In Trece Hub, you can do a lot with colour. From the colour drop picker that lets you pick any colour in the layout and save it to your custom palette, to the ability to add hex colours. Whatever you want to do with colour in your designs, you can do it with the best graphic designers at Trece HUB!
Brand values
While colours and logos may change, their values must remain the same. What you represent is key when building a brand. Some values that your brand can have are integrity, honesty and courage.
Whatever your beliefs, be sure to remember them in every key decision for your brand. What is branding without some crucial decisions? Stick with these and build a genuine brand.
Conclusion
Branding is all about action. What is the mark without movement? A brand that will not grow. You need to keep up with technology and be innovative to make sure your brand keeps moving forward.
Anything other than campaign development, customer service, and advertising will mean your brand could be left behind.
It may seem daunting at first when you have to check all the tick boxes, but take it to step by step and you can get started in no time. Use the resources that are available to you, such as the Trece Hub, to get started.
Your brand is essential for your company to grow. Get creative, have fun and if you still have any questions about your next branding strategy, you can hire the best branding team in town!