You walk into a store and look for a packaged bottle of water. There are two shelves of these, one displaying bottles with a plain white label that reads just “water”, and another with bottles that are wrapped in a well-designed and attractive blue plastic jacket that has a bold lettering reading AquaDel. There is a tagline under it as well that says “finest you can get in a bottle”.
The price difference between these two categories is around 5%, with the second one more expensive. So, the question for you here is- which one would you pick? If you are like most people, then you answer would be AquaDel. But why is that? The answer lies in branding.
What is branding?
Branding is a lot of things. However, most of all, it’s what that gives a business a unique identity, a personality. The example above is a case in point.
You were given two options for purchasing a packaged bottle of water. However, despite the cheaper option available, you went for the expensive one i.e. AquaDel.
The thing is that although the other one was cheap, it was devoid of any identity. It would have done the job just fine as it was packaged water after all. However, it was genetic and did not make any effort in attract the customer. On the other hand, AquaDel was visually appealing and had a comforting tagline that helped to build confidence. Although it was costly, it showcased itself as a better product. This brings us to the next question.
Why is branding important?
Your brand image matters more than you think. It gives your business a personality and character, makes it stand out from the rivals that have generic identities in the market.
Branding is important because:
- It makes your company look professional. It shows that you mean business and want to establish your company as one of the elite and best-in-class.
- It helps your customers to trust you easily. A good company logo with an equally good tagline reflect commitment and customer-centricity.
- It’s one of the best things you can do for your online visibility. When your branding is prevalent and consistent across all the major platforms- websites, blogs, social media accounts, etc., then it starts to create an impact in the subconscious minds of your target demographic.
- It helps to justify high-end products. Why do you think premium brands Nike, Apple are able to sell their ridiculously expensive products easily? Hell, the latter was able to able prove iPhone X isn’t that expensive actually. The reason is that they invest a huge chunk of their revenue in top-notch marketing. They have established themselves as the “best” in their respective spaces. More importantly, they have associated themselves as not just “product” companies but “lifestyle” companies. Thus, the people don’t mind paying a premium price as they are led to believe that they are not buying products but rather a lifestyle.
How to create a strong brand?
Before you even take your first step, you must understand that:
“Good branding is all about creating a story that pushes a product”
Every brand has a story to tell which helps to attract customers that relate to it. It gives a meaning to the company logo and its mission statement. Thus, that’s the first thing you need to work on first. However, you also need a unique logo that’s appealing and appropriate for your brand.
There are many online branding platforms such as TailorBrands.com where not only you can just create a company logo effortlessly in no time, but also equip your brand with the other essentials such as business cards, presentation slides, social media banners, etc.
Once your company logo is ready, you need to associate it with your company’s values and spread the word on social media and blogs, etc. You have to be consistent in your marketing campaigns and create a positive brand image. It will take time, but that’ how it is with every company. That said, if your story is strong enough, it will surely create an impact over time.
Conclusion
In today’s highly competitive market, branding is more important than ever. There is a significant rise in the number of startups that are launched on daily basis. Thus, for a company to survive, it must tell its story to the world, and only branding can give the right tools for that.