Definition of Branding:
Building a distinctive and identifiable identity for a product, service, business, or person is known as branding. In order to distinguish a certain offering from that of its rivals, it entails influencing audiences’ perceptions, feelings, and associations. Branding is more than simply a name or logo; it includes the complete experience and impression that a brand projects.
Types of Brand Elements:
9 Brand elements that matter
Brand Name
Brand name is a name given by a business to its products or services. Businesses with a unique brand name for its products or services help in identifying and differentiating itself from similar businesses.
Logo
Logo is a visual representation of a business in the form of text, images and colors for promotion of its products or services.
Font
A font is a set of printable or displayable typography in a specific size, weight, color or design. Use of right font delivers right emotions to the reader.
Color Palette
A color palette is a combination of colors used to create a visual style on an interface like a display screen. Color palettes makes your brand appealing or attractive.
Voice and Tone
Voice is like the personality that does not change much while tone is like the mood that changes based on situations. Businesses need to be creative and consistent in using voice and tone for audience.
Taglines and Slogans
Taglines are permanent in nature while slogans change as per campaign. Also, taglines are public relations focused while slogans are advertisement focused.
Shape
Shapes are defined by outlines or colors. They help businesses to convey characteristics and emotions in a nonverbal way.
Space
Space is the distance between the design objects or elements. It can be positive or negative i.e positive space is the space that the element occupies or is the main focus of the page while negative space is the empty space in the page. Space helps in creating emphasis and relationship between elements.
Graphic and Image
Graphic is related to visual art involving drawing, engraving or lettering. While Image is the external form of a person or thing in art. Businesses use graphics and images in newspapers, magazines, websites and other channels for communicating a message and creating brand awareness and conversions.
Importance of branding
11 reasons why branding is important for your business
Importance of branding can be associated with the relationship of a business with its customers. Let’s know how businesses use branding to gravitate customers towards their products or services.
Recognition
Branding gives recognition to a business and its products or services. Recognition is the extent to which an audience start identifying and relating themselves with the business and its products or services.
Build Trust
By fulfilling consumer expectations and delivering on promises, brands build trust among their customers. Brand trust measures the confidence a customer has in your business.
Improve Advertising
In order to place a brand in front of audience its sometimes required to run an advertisement campaign. If the business has used the right combination of brand identity elements and is consistent with its messaging and delivery of promise, this improves the success ratio of advertisement.
Value for your Employees:
Branding creates a sense of pride or level of satisfaction among its customers. The same customer behaviour reflects in the employees of the brand as well. A good brand creates value for its internal employees and motivates them to perform better.
Loyal Customers
Brand loyalty is a consumer’s positive feelings towards a brand. Businesses use branding to ensure customers purchase the brand’s products and/or services repeatedly.
Unites an Audience
Brand not only creates loyalty but also unites its customers i.e., it creates a community. Example – Harley Davidson. The brand was not only able to sell motorcycles at a profit but it also created a community of its own, separate from other brands.
Builds Emotions
Brands with effective story telling practices, provoke emotions among their customers. These emotions lead to a strong relationship between a costumer and a product or service.
Attracts top talent
Businesses with good brands (employer branding) attract top notch candidates in hiring process. Institutes like to invite businesses with reputed brands for hiring their students and this is mutually beneficial for both.
Distinguished identity
Branding creates Uniqueness or Distinguished Identity. A business with right brand identity elements like color, logo, font et cetera distinguishes itself from others and creates its own brand identity.
Brand extensions
Brand extensions refers to the use of the company’s already established brand equity to help it launch its new product. Example – Apple from personal computers to wearable.
Increases Profitability
Brand equity has a direct effect on sales volume because customers gravitate towards products with great reputations.
Conclusion
Branding gives identity to a business and its products or services and differentiates it from other brands. Businesses with the help of branding create a positive image about the products or services in the customer’s mind. Branding leads to repetitive purchases and higher revenues for business. To sum up, branding will always be the key to success in the competitive market.
You can learn more about branding with the free courses available on Coursera and one such free course which Dimaxlor would recommend is offered by London Business School in association with Coursera – Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour.
