A brand is considered as one of the main identifiers of a product or a set of products. It is a term, name, design, symbol, or any other feature that helps to identify a particular seller’s products from the competitor’s products. Brands are used for production, advertising, and marketing purposes as an identifier for the product. It is identified that branding can create a major impact on consumer purchasing behavior.
The term branding is a business and marketing concept that supports the customers to identify a particular product, company, or person. Brands are considered an intangible asset to the company as no one can actually see or touch them. Even though it is intangible, brands help the businesses to create a perception in the market about their products and to create value to the product and the company by helping to achieve competitive advantage.
As the importance of branding as a way of winning a better and bigger market share is increasing, businesses often seek legal protection for their brands. This is done by obtaining trademarks. This helps the companies to set themselves apart from the companies who produce similar types of products to the market and helps the consumers to identify the product in the market.
Slogans, Logos, and other recognizable marks in the brands are often confused as branding. However, it is identified that these marks are tools that have been used by organizations to market and promote their products as a way of creating a good brand image in the market. These tools help the business to create a brand identity and capture more market share.
Brand Equity
Brand equity is a major part of branding a product. Brand equity is a value premium that is generated by a company for its product with an easily recognizable name when compared to the competitor’s products. Businesses can create brand equity by making the brand memorable to the customers and easily recognizable. This is usually done by the quality of the product, unique value additions, and attractive appearance of the product.
When the product has achieved brand equity, the customers are willing to pay even a higher price than the competitor’s products. Brand equity can lead to brand loyalty where the customers will remain with the brand for a long period of time.
Essential Elements for a Successful Brand
Consistency
Consistent branding allows the customers to express their expectations from the brand. The business must provide a consistent image in the market and the brand image should be communicated to the customers through each marketing channel chosen by the company. The brand should be defined based on the three core elements.
1. Vision Statement – This explains what the business is planning to achieve in long run. It helps the business to identify its core values and how the bras will reflect those core values of the business.
2. Value Proposition – This explains the value that can be provided by the brand. These values should help the brand to stand out from the competition. Defining the unique value proposition of the brand helps the business to concentrate on one or more differentiators that will help the brand to stand out in the market and provide a better value to the customers.
3. Positioning Statement – This helps the business to position themselves in the market compared to the competitors and take necessary actions to reach the position they wish to be in the market. This is about what the brand is providing and what the customers are expecting from the brand.
Community
Once the brand is defined by the business, the business should identify the target customers who share the values, behavior, and personality traits that have been defined by the business. These like-minded customers who are targeted for the product and the like-minded employees who will be able to fulfill the unmet customer needs by the brand will create a community by clarifying the values created by the brand internally as well as externally.
Content
Once the brand is defined and the community is created, the business has to bring the brand to life. Content helps the business to interact with the community and position the product in the right market. This is done by videos, infographics, vlogs, and different information transmission methods. Content helps the business to actively engage with the customers, obtain their feedback, and educate them about the values produced by the brand to fulfill customer needs and wants.