Branding is your business’s route into Professionalism

A Brand…

A word you can hear anywhere anytime in the middle of any conversation about food, cloth, accessories, perfume and endless type of subjects, but have you ever asked yourself what does it mean ?, Even the difference between brand & branding? and why it is so important even if it’s for a small business !!

So, here is a hint about the difference, the brand is an asset the business owners aim to achieve, unlike branding is a strategy or a process that delivers your business to be a strong well-known brand like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, and McDonald’s.

It doesn’t need to be expressed or explained, once it gets mentioned or you see a logo or hear a reference, you already know what they do and who they are.

For example when you hear this one (ba ba ba ba ba) it is ?, exactly it’s McDonald’s, see what I’m talking about.

Brands are the most valuable assets companies can possess. it gives your business an identity that makes it stuck in mind, people will strive to be employed for you. by the way, you don’t have to be global like Apple or Coca Cola, if you have a small or medium-sized business in a local market, you should have a well-established branding strategy due to the high competitiveness in the latest decade in local markets.

The easiest way to think about branding is that your brand personality is your business’s personality, Consists of 2 parts.

The visible part which is your logo, your content, and your colors, are all physical ways of representing and conveying the first impression of your personality to others around you, just like the style of clothing and looks in human’s personality, most people only know this part, if you ask them which is called the brand identity.

What people don’t know is the invisible part called the brand image which is the message and emotions your brand is conveying to people around you, just like you know the human’s behaviors and emotions.

Benefits of having a strong brand:

1.Credibility & Ease of purchase

•Having a strong, well-known brand enhances your credibility with customers, your industry, and the marketplace as a whole. As you build your credibility, you also build recognition, loyalty, and competitiveness. Everything goes hand-in-hand, and you’ll find that your credibility has a direct connection to customer’s ease of purchase. We want to buy from companies we like, know, and trust. If your brand is credible, you’re far more likely to get the sale.

2.Sharing Values

•When your brand is connecting with customers through shared values can make them loyal forever to you, for example, your brand is doing some sort of participating in a global concern like planting a tree for every sale or make donations for water sustentation these global Sustainable development goals (SDGs), will develop an emotional connection because they will think they are not only buying a product or service, they are participating and being a part of a good deed.  

3.Customer recognition

•One of the amazing benefits your brand can have, being easily recognized by consumers, let’s say one of your consumers had a good previous experience with your brand in the accessories category, one day he went shopping looking for a new pair of shoes, so while he was confused to buy which pair, he recognized your brand name over one of them, at this moment he did not hesitate to purchase something he already trusted before.

4.Talent magnet

•Having a popular brand and strong branding strategy attracts very talented influencers and social media marketers, it’s like a sort of free non-paid advertising, they want to be a part of your brand fame.

•Attract high criteria of employee experts to work for your business.

5.Brand equity

•Refers to the value added to the same product under your brand, this makes your product preferable over others, one of the equity advantages is the ease of introducing new products to market, by the way, Apple is the number 1 ranked brand in brand equity list over the world.

6.Maintaining customer loyalty

•Keeps customers loyal to you over competitors, if your competitors are offering discounts or doing promotions, your customers will ignore them and still buying from your brand because they are satisfied with your service.

Some insights might interest you about branding:

• Branding is the decisive factor when it comes to the purchasing action in a 2015 global Nielsen survey, almost 60% of shoppers said they actively buy from brands they know, and 21% said they bought a product because they liked the brand. (Source)
• 59% of consumers buy new products from trusted brands. (Source)
• 73% of consumers love a brand because of helpful customer service.
      
• 91% of consumers would rather buy from an authentic brand  (Source)
• 82% of investors want the companies they invest in to have a strong brand.  (Source)
• If branding is continuous and consistent through all the appropriate platforms, revenue could go up by 23%, state recent branding statistics. (Source)

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.