Business Perspective: The importance of branding for a company

Watching one of my favourite shows on the TV, about a business owner who had a saloon in an upscale area, but because she did not brand her business well, was loosing out on thousands of money everyday, even though her services were needed, nobody had the urge to open the door of her saloon because of many wrong things was an eye opener for me. She got an advice from a professional and branded her business and one week after a reopening she recorded 80% profit. Many of us venture into businesses with one hand and a leg, without having to do our homework properly. In fact, professionals advise that when you are considering the name of your company, you need to remember the importance of branding. So what exactly is branding? A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, colour combination or slogan. In fact branding starts from day one of deciding on a name that is well thought of, analyzed and its meaning. The importance of branding begins with creating a simple name for your company. Consumers remember simple. Also, making sure your name can be associated with a positive value, characteristic, or position is part of the importance of branding. Consumers like products to which they can associate positive qualities. Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small. An effective brand strategy gives a business owner a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. Simply put, a brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be. Another aspect of the importance of branding is that your name must be different and unique. If your name is too close to another company’s then people are likely to mix you up. The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials--all of which should integrate your logo--communicate your brand. Also, the importance of branding needs to be voiced to your employees so that your message is clear to all of your employees and the public. If you have a vision or goal statement, then you need to voice the importance of branding here also. Employees need to understand the importance of branding so that it is communicated in the office and to consumers every day. The message you are trying to get across in branding depends on your employees putting it out there to consumers. Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels are also part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and verbally are part of your brand strategy, too. Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to your company’s products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command. Company branding makes it easy to build momentum in your advertising. When people know your company name, your logo, your products and your brand, it tends to stick in their minds – for example my three year old son who is an account holder at the KCB bank, identifies his bank by the branding, he recently saw my cheque book and immediately recognized the lion head which is the KCB logo, why? Because his piggy bank and t-shirt which were given to him by his bank are well branded that even children can not forget. So when you run a commercial or a print advertisement, you don’t have to work as hard at gaining visibility. You can just work on selling your products. Once people know what your company stands for, when they recognize your logo, they will immediately tie it to your products and services. Positioning yourself in the marketplace isn’t easy, but once it’s done it is easier to maintain your position. It does take a significant marketing effort over a sustained period of time. So build a strong brand from the ground up and soon you will have loyal customers all over the globe. Communicating your brand out to the community means that when they are looking for a product or service in your industry they will automatically be drawn to your company. This has to be the ultimate goal for every business. Ends