What is Branding?
Introduction
Almost every business has a trading name, from the smallest market trader to the largest multi-national corporation. Only a minority of those businesses however, have what could be classed as a ‘brand’ or a ‘brand name’.
Branding is a word commonly referred to by advertisers and marketing people, but what does it actually mean, how can you get it, and most importantly; how will it benefit your business?
What is Branding?
There are many different definitions of a brand, the most effective description however, is that a brand is a name or symbol that is commonly known to identify a company or it’s products and separate them from the competition.
A well-known brand is generally regarded as one that people will recognise, often even if they do not know about the company or its products/services. These are usually the businesses name or the name of a product, although it can also include the name of a feature or style of a product.
The overall ‘branding’ of a company or product can also stretch to a logo, symbol, or even design features (e.g. Regularly used colours or layouts, such as red and white for Coca Cola.) that identify the company or its products/services.
For example:
The Nike brand name is known throughout the world, people can identify the name and logo even if they have never bought any of their products.
However, not only is the company name a brand, but the logo (The ‘tick’ symbol) is also a strong piece of branding in its own right. The majority of people that are aware of the company can also identify it (or its products) from this symbol alone.
The clothing and running shoe company Adidas is well known for using three stripes on its range of products. This design feature branding allows people to identify their products, even if the Adidas brand name and logo is not present.
How Can Branding Benefit My Business?
Recognition and Loyalty
The main benefit of branding is that customers are much more likely to remember your business. A strong brand name and logo/image helps to keep your company image in the mind of your potential customers.
If your business sells products that are often bought on impulse, a customer recognising your brand could mean the difference between no-sale and a sale. Even if the customer was not aware that you sell a particular product, if they trust your brand, they are likely to trust you with unfamiliar products. If a customer is happy with your products or services, a brand helps to build customer loyalty across your business.
Image of Size
A strong brand will project an image of a large and established business to your potential customers. People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.
An image of size and establishment can be especially important when a customer wants reassurance that you will still be around in a few years time.
Image of Quality
A strong brand projects an image of quality in your business, many people see the brand as a part of a product or service that helps to show its quality and value.
It is commonly said that if you show a person two identical products, only one of which is branded; they will almost always believe the branded item is higher quality.
If you can create effective branding, then over time the image of quality in your business will usually go up. Of course, branding cannot replace good quality, and bad publicity will damage a brand (and your businesses image), especially if it continues over a long period of time.
For example:
The Sunny Delight drinks brand was one of the biggest in the UK just a year after its launch. However, constant bad publicity about the quality of the product has severely damaged the image of the brand, and sales have dropped for each of the past several years.
Image of Experience and Reliability
A strong brand creates an image of an established business that has been around for long enough to become well known. A branded business is more likely to be seen as experienced in their products or services, and will generally be seen as more reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded business.
Most people will believe that a business would be hesitant to put their brand name on something that was of poor quality.
Multiple Products
If your business has a strong brand, it allows you to link together several different products or ranges. You can put your brand name on every product or service you sell, meaning that customers for one product will be more likely to buy another product from you.
For Example:
Sony sells televisions, music equipment, consoles, camcorders, DVD players, video players, and etc all under the Sony brand name.
You can also create separate brand names for your product ranges, allowing people to see your brand name, and then use the range brand name to work out what they wish to buy.
For Example:
Cadbury’s makes a range of confectionary under many different sub-brand names such as Dairy Milk, Boost, Flake, and Time Out. All of these are sold under the product brand, but all feature the Cadbury’s brand name on the packaging.
What are the Disadvantages of Branding?
What are the Disadvantages of Branding?
(i) Cost
If you wish to create and maintain a strong brand presence, it can involve a lot of design and marketing costs. A strong brand is memorable, but people still need to be exposed to it, this often requires a lot of advertising and PR over a long period of time, which can be very costly.
There are also costs involved with the creating of a brand image or logo (Paying for a designer, printing new letterheads/business cards etc.), and although most of these are only one off costs, they are still relatively large for most small businesses.
The exposure of your brand can be left to word of mouth, this will save you money, but will also greatly slow down the exposure your brand receives.
(ii) Impersonal
One of the main problems with many branded businesses is that they lose their personal image. The ability to deal on a personal basis with customers is one of the biggest advantages small business have, and poorly designed branding could give customers the impression that your business is losing its personal touch.
(iii) Fixed Image
Every brand has a certain image to potential customers, and part of that image is about what products or services you sell. If you are known for selling just one product, and you want to sell another product, will you be able to do so effectively?
If you sell computers, would your brand name be suitable for selling vacuum cleaners? If your brand is focused too strongly on one product, it can limit your ability to sell other products.
(iv) Timescale
The process of creating a brand will usually take a long period of time. As well as creating a brand and updating your signs and equipment (e.g. Stationary, vehicles etc…), you need to expose it to your potential customers.
It is commonly shown that people need to see an advert at least three times before they absorb it, which means you will need to advertise and promote the brand for a considerable amount of time before it will become well known.
Where am I?
How do you get Branding?
How Do You Get Branding?
(i) Memorable Brand Name and Logo
The vast majority of brand names are short and memorable names, which are easy to remember. They can often be shortened versions of the full company name, or something completely new aimed at selling a particular product or service.
(ii) Image of Size
A strong brand will project an image of a large and established business to your potential customers. People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.
For Example:
The Coca Cola Company uses the brand name Coca Cola.
The electronics brand JVC is the brand name for the Victor Company of Japan Limited.
BBC is the brand name for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Creating a distinctive logo also helps to make your brand more memorable, a symbol or image is usually much more noticeable than text.
People are much less likely to remember the words “Alan Smith’s Groceries and Fruit Stall” than they are a smart logo for “Smith’s Groceries”. By creating and developing a brand, potential customers will be much more likely to remember you, no matter how small your business.
The cost of paying an external company to design a logo varies from a hundred to many thousands of pounds (depending on the company you use); but the cost of a brand name is free unless you wish to pay for research into names (as many large companies do)!
(ii) Professional Looking Image
The overall image of your business is a crucial part of creating strong branding. As branding creates the impression of a larger business, your image should reflect that of an established company.
All business stationary (Such as business cards or letterheads) needs to carry your businesses brand name or logo. There is no point creating a brand if you do not use it, although this does not mean you need to make it excessively large, sometimes subtlety works just as well (especially in more serious businesses).
Creating a brand is not just about the name and logo; can someone look at your products/brochure/store and know that it is for your business without seeing a name?
(iii) Exposure
Even the best designed branding will be of no benefit if people (potential customers!) are not exposed to it. There are four main ways in which people become exposed to and remember a brand:
Advertising
Advertising in magazines, newspapers, trade journals, or even on the radio or television will expose your brand to a large number of people in a short space of time.
There is no better way of exposing your brand, but substantial advertising is very expensive, particularly in the long term. Advertising planning should always take into account the type of business you are in, and who you are aiming to sell or expose your brand to.
PR
Public Relations exposure can inform a wide range of people about your brand through trustworthy sources such as newspapers. A news story that references your brand (e.g. A toy company provides a branded survey showing that Toy X is expected to be the biggest seller this year.) is given to the media outlets, which then decide whether or not to run the story.
PR is not as expensive as advertising, but results can vary considerably depending on the type of business you run, the availability of stories, and even what is going on in the news that week.
If you choose an external company, you must always be sure of their ability and experience, otherwise you are effectively throwing money away. If you choose to carry out PR internally, it costs next to nothing, but the results will often be poor without some training and knowledge.
Word Of Mouth
Highly satisfied customers will generally tell other people about your business, this can be used to help spread your brand. Be careful however, as unsatisfied customers will usually tell more people about their experiences than satisfied customers will.
Word of mouth exposure is free, and helps to lodge your brand name and image in your potential customers minds.
Advertising and promotions can also encourage word of mouth; many businesses run competitions or ‘teaser’ advertising that often makes people talk about the advert (and therefore your brand).
Discounts given when an existing customer introduces a friend are another common way of increasing word of mouth exposure.
Period of Establishment
The only real form of exposure that you can have no control over is time. Even the best branding will not be remembered by everyone the first time they see it. Over months and years, a brand becomes more effective and will be more easily recalled.
Just because your branding might appear unsuccessful after two months, does not mean that it is not working at all. Most of the world’s best-known brands have been established for over 50 years!
Where am I?
Protecting Your Brand
Protecting Your Brand
One key aspect of creating a brand is trade marking. This protects your name, logo, and sometimes design features against being copied or misused by another company.
If you work hard to create a recognized brand, the theft of it by another company can damage the brand image, as well as providing the other company with an unfair advantage.
Summary
A brand is a name, symbol or design feature that allows people to identify your company and/or products.
Effective branding promotes loyalty to your business and your products and services.
A strong brand helps to create an image of a large, reliable company with high quality products or services.
A well-known brand can make it easier to launch new products, although you need to be careful of being seen as a ‘one product’ or ‘one range’ company.
Creating a strong brand is expensive, and takes a long time to reach full effectiveness.
When creating a brand, you must be careful not to lose the image of personal service. This is one of the biggest advantages small businesses have, and any branding must show the correct image that you want your customers to see.
The key to a strong brand is an effective name and logo that are easily remembered and suit your style of business.
A professional image across your products and media (adverts, store fronts, stationary) helps to increase the effectiveness of your brand.
All brands need exposure to their target audience. Whether you do this through paid adverts, PR, or through word of mouth promotions; it is crucial to making your brand recognized.
All brands should be properly trademarked; this makes sure that no one else can use your branding for their gain.
All businesses are different, and you should always seek knowledgeable advice before altering or promoting your businesses in such a significant (and often expensive!) way.
Relevant Articles
- Marketing a Small Business
- Designing a Business Logo
- Patents & Trademarks – Trademark
- Writing a Press Release
Where am I?
Marketing a Small Business
Introduction
When you start a new business, especially a small business, you will have nightmares about two areas:
- 10 Ways to Get New Small Business Customers
- Continuing sales through existing customers
10 Ways to Get New Small Business Customers
- Network Groups
- Local Newspapers
- Brochures, Leaflets and Flyers
- The Mail Shot
- Partnerships
- Calling Card
- Telephone Sales
- Newsletters
- Monthly Magazines and Trade Journals
- The Internet
NOTE
The following suggestions are not the top ten ways to gain small business customers, nor are they in any order of performance. There are too many parameters that will affect the success of using the same tactic in two different locations/situations. However, by doing some local research, it will help you become more clear as to which methods will be most effective.
Network Groups
Almost every area has a business networking group, if not a dedicated small business group.
The idea here is to build up a rapport with other small business owners who, it is hoped, will recommend or use your services/product on the basis that it is preferable to deal with someone you know this has been proved to be so.
Groups also provide added benefit this means that when you talk to a customer and that customer wants a product/service you do not provide, you will be able to get the deal based on your networking knowledge and connections. Your local Chamber of Commerce will be able to help you, and you may want to sign up with them.
Visit our article on Small Business Clubs
Local Newspapers
If you provide services/products that serve a local community, you must have exposure in your local or free paper. The weekly cost is generally £25 a week: you can decide to insert weekly at £1,300 a year, fortnightly at £650 a year, or monthly at £300 a year. Having an advert in the classified section is less expensive than having an advert in the news pages, and block booking will reduce the cost by 10 – 25%.
Brochures, Leaflets and Flyers
Many small business owners will tell you that brochures etc are a waste of money as they very rarely bring in business by themselves: I tend to agree with that comment.
They are useful for exhibitions an envelope stuffing with the monthly statement, but struggle to carry a message to potential customers as they have leaning towards presentation rather than the technical issues of your business.
Leaflets/flyers can have a more specific message about special offers and current prices: the things that customers want to see. The presentation is not as important as on the flag waving brochure, and the customer generally has more belief in what you say due to the more basic presentation.
Providing your customers with up to date information is essential, with the cost efficiency of leaflets/flyers I suggest past and current customers receive something as regularly as you can afford.
The Mail Shot
It is most important that your mailing list is as relative as possible to your target customer. You can get lists for small office, home office (SOHO) that will give you access to those needing supplies of relevant products that are used or consumed in that environment.
However, if you sell to small medium enterprises (SMEs) you will probably need to know turnover, type of business, employee numbers and profit & loss details to enable you to target, say, turnover between £1 – 5m , under 20 employees, and in profit, to supply office lease equipment.
Cost is the key to successful mail shots. With an expected response of about 2 – 10% you have to mail a significant amount of prospective customers. To get 100 responses you need to post between 1,000 – 5,000 letters that’s £600 for stamps alone, using an average of 3,000 mail shots.
The other resources headed-paper, brochure, envelopes and time, easily brings the total to £1,000 for 300 responses – being a cost of between £3 – 10 for each lead. Almost every product has a customer user/buyer statistical breakdown if you know this, you can improve sales drastically. Its about good research, and knowing your product and customer.
Visit our article Compiling a Mail Shot or Mailshot
The answers to these problems are commonly misunderstood. Most new entrants into business will answer both the above questions with “advertising”.
The problem with this answer is that advertising is only one part of many options that can be used to obtain new custom, and maintain sales from your existing customer base. To be successful in business you need to understand ‘marketing’.
What is marketing?
Marketing comprises a number of disciplines which will be covered throughout this article.
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An example: you took a space at an exhibition to show your range of wares, as promoted on your web site to improve your public relations and sales, you had some leaflets designed and printed that advertised your goods through photography. You ask each visitor a few survey questions about industry, product and needs. At the exhibition you sought leads for a direct mail and telemarketing campaign.
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