What is branding?
When we think of a brand or branding a business it's easy to only think of what we can see. However branding is so much more than a logo but what does that mean?
Lets start with some definitions.
The Cambridge Dictionary says branding is: “the activity of connecting a product with a particular name, symbol, etc. or with particular features or ideas, in order to make people recognize and want to buy it: Successful branding uses design to reinforce customers' visual memories.”
Rocket Creative say branding is the “The emotional and psychological connection your customers have with your company, product or service”
American Marketing Association says “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers”
And Shadowstar Creative says a brand is “The way the soul of your business shines out to your ideal clients, telling them exactly who you are, what you do and how you can help them”
We all agree that a brand is the way your customers recognise your business and that means
Branding is extremely important for your business
You can see that branding is so much more than a logo - and really the definitions given aren't that helpful so what exactly is branding and how does it help your business?
Here’s an example:
VS
Believe it or not there are similarities in the brands:
Both brands sell clothing and accessories,
Both serve customers who want to be up to date with trends, want to look good, and are interested in standing out
Neither company sell fashion online.
So, a question with an obvious answer... what makes these companies with such strong similarities, so different?
Its not the logo, although they are both distinctive - one says the name of the company and the other cannot possibly be mistaken for anything other than the Chanel CC.
What separates these companies by a million miles is the BRAND. Both have strong brands and this is why strong branding is so important
Why Strong Branding is so Important
Reason 1 - It Sets You Apart
There are millions of companies, many of them doing similar things and quite a lot of them doing the exact same thing.
So why does a customer choose one company over another? Let’s take Primark vs Chanel. On the surface they do exactly the same thing - you go to one their store and come out with clothes or accessories.
But I guarantee you only ever use one of them and even if you won the lottery taking price out of the equation you'd still be either camp Primark or camp Chanel.
But why?
Simple - the branding. You are either drawn to one or the other, and repelled by one or the other. Maybe you like both but for different reasons.
So lets look at the branding of Chanel. If you've seen the movie Coco you'll know that the company was set up to produce clothes that are chic, feminine and classic. And this timelessness is Chanel's soul. Those black toed pumps and black cigarette trousers, the little quilted leather bag and big sunglasses. You just know when you're looking at Chanel.
Somehow though Chanel manages to sit at the forefront of fashion trends every season with a bang up to date cruise collection every summer.
And who else occupies the forefront of fashion - Primark. But somehow Primark doesn't invoke the same nostalgia as Chanel .
Instead it is fun and funky, appealing to those who want to look fashionable without the designer price tag.
And that my friends is a wonderful way how the Primark and Chanel brands differ - Different target audience and how they make their audience feel.
Reason 2 - Security
Strong branding is so important because it can actually protect your business.
Imagine you are happily following Chanel on Instagram, watching their stories following the daily countdown, excitedly waiting for their new cruise line to drop,
3 days to go, 2 days to go, one day to...
crickets.... what the?
they're gone
Their Instagram is gone. What do you do?!
You go to Google and search for them that's what (or take to your Facebook or twitter /x or YouTube or email and ask them what the heck happened).
Through the strong brand, that makes you want to see their stuff, and makes you think of that exact company when you need what they're selling, they have a measure of protection against disasters such as hacking or account loss.
And even more importantly if a hacker gets into a strongly branded business's socials or emails and starts sending phishing, nasty or virus filled emails to their list, what happens is the audience recognises immediately that something is wrong.
So say you're on Chanel's email list and one day you get an email announcing a sale on their dresses in their online shop. You know, because you know Chanel through their brand that they don't HAVE an online fashion shop. You know right away that something is very wrong. You don't open the email and you don't accidentally download a nasty virus to your device.
If you build a strong brand that your own clients and audience recognise, not only are you protecting your clients from nasty stuff, you are also protecting your business from potential reputation damage, loss of clients and revenue loss. Your people know you, because you know them and that leads me to my next reason for having a strong brand....
Reason 3 - Consistency and Recognisability.
When you have a strong brand which is more than the visuals and includes the words, values, images that describe your business, you have guidelines on what the elements of your brand are (more about them in a minute) and how to use them. It’s all right there for your business and your team or freelancers to pick up and use.
All across your marketing the colours, font and images are the same. Branding goes deeper because it is your brand’s voice and as we say here - it's very soul.
The result is that everyone always knows what to say and whoever is speaking for your business sounds like your business.
And as we explored above this is vital in helping your audience know it's you.
Imagine if on one Instagram post the tone is happy and upbeat, another post is full of angry swearwords that would make a pirate blush... you'd wonder if you were looking at the same company page and would be rather confused about whether they were even talking to you.
That's why every piece of content Shadowstar Creative produces whether it is a YouTube Video, a webpage or an email newsletter we sound the same and look the same. Boring? Maybe - spoiler your brand doesn't have to be dynamic, it has to be consistent. Consistent and recognisable.
Reason 4 - You Control the Narrative
Whether you know it or not, your business already has a brand. The “brand” could be described as the perception outsiders have of your business. If you are not in control of that perception someone else is and without proper guidance the outsiders are left to draw their own conclusions and it’s possible that they draw ones that are entirely wrong!
A strong brand gives you, the business owner, control of how you present your business to the world, allowing you to clearly state what your business is all about
Elements of Branding
I recently heard a brand described as being like an iceberg with the elements of branding making up the iceberg.
You only see a fraction of the brand. What do I mean? Just as the biggest part of any iceberg is unseen, the branding iceberg is no different.
The Branding Iceberg
Let's take Shadowstar Creative as an example.
You see the seen elements making up a black background, a colourful starburst logo, every font is Josefin sans in specific approved colours. This is our brand identity - the face that is seen and recognised across all our marketing. The goal being when someone sees the logo for millionth time says "I know them they do branding workshops for women owned spiritual businesses"
Under the surface the visuals are supported by the unseen elements. These are the business's vision, voice, personality, values, USP and principles and these are informed by research into competitors, target audience / client, giving outputs such as keywords and yes the all important visuals.
A brand takes time to develop and has a lot of moving parts if you're going to do it successfully.
You might have read this blog and panicked slightly at the amount of work it takes, but don't do that. Over the next few weeks we deep dive into what each of these elements are and how they help build the all important brand.
Remember we have a whole series of videos on YouTube and blog posts on the way covering all of the brand elements and going into more depth on how to build a brand.
So pop over to YouTube, subscribe and hit notifications to make sure you don't miss out and I will see you next week for the next video and related blog post - Key elements of a successful brand.
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