Branding

As a marketing concept, most businesses are familiar with the term “branding” and have used it to some degree in how they present themselves to the public. But familiarity often breeds neglect, and most companies never grasp the full potential of the process. There’s more to branding than having a nice logo and a catchy sales pitch, which is why “branding” is commonly referred to as “corporate identity”. It goes well beyond a recognizable label on product shelves.

Effective branding captures the essence of a company’s aspirations, how it relates to customers and employees, and how that business or product line fits into the grand scheme of things. Effective brands convey a consistent corporate identity to clients in direct and peripheral ways, across a range of media.  Beyond the immediate marketing angle, branding can also shape employee and stakeholder attitudes about the business and their relationship to it. 

Marketing professionals and business consultants may differ in how they approach a branding campaign, but the goals are the same: to define a company and its services or products, establish the essential character of the company, and develop a consistent image conveyed through graphic design, company mottos and promotional text, website design and structure, package design and media kits, advertising campaigns and marketing strategies. The key concept is consistency, which is where many businesses come up short. Graphics reflect language, which reflects corporate philosophy, which affects employee performance, which affects sales and profitability. It’s all related, and a strong brand identity reinforces those relationships.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The most essential aspect of a good brand is the name, and a lot of businesses put many hours into developing a strong one. And it’s not just for new companies: many established businesses have taken advantage of mergers, new product or service categories, market shifts and other changes to evaluate and re-think their brand image.

Name recognition is a powerful tool, particularly in the age of the Internet. Consider this common scenario: driving down the road you see a billboard, vehicle or building signage, or hear a radio advertisement for a product, service or event you want to know more about. Do you:

a) stop and write the information down
b) call immediately from your cell phone
c) go home and, hours later, rifle through the phone book trying to recall the exact business name
d) go to an online search engine armed with a partial phrase and find a listing for the company, or several like it

Chances are, your answer is d or some variation of it. The old days of selecting A-1 Services or AAA Whatsits because they came first in the phone book are mostly gone. The Internet makes it easy to find businesses because you can search from any number of angles – services, products, location, part of a business name, even by an employee you know.

Those generic names really only worked for generic goods and services anyway. Today’s consumers are much more interested in individual attention, from a company with a definable character. Your business name is the primary indicator of that character, whether it’s a traditional iconic appellation, a short-and-sweet appeal to techno-savvy hipsters or an enigmatic haiku to the non-conformist creative set. The more character and information you can pack into a short, memorable name the better – especially if it translates naturally into the http://www.brilliantbizname.com URL format.

DESIGN
Graphic design is the most powerful tool in the branding arsenal. A good designer can condense everything you want to convey about your company – style, philosophy, mission, products, character, even target audience – into concise, consistent graphic form.

A good logo is the first step, and it should adapt to a range of formats to meet your needs. What looks good on stationery or a media kit might not work so well on a truck or the side of a building. Consider how the logo will be used, and how different formats will effect the visual impact across a range of media – print, physical, or electronic. Reproducibility is often a concern: some companies need to be able to copy the logo easily, others want it more difficult to duplicate. A good graphic designer will be able to determine - and accommodate – the needs of the business.

For stationery and business cards, paper color, texture and quality are factors. Brochures and sales sheets may need a different look and feel, and websites require a whole other set of design criteria. The brand, however, should be consistent. From typeface and color palette to the character of the images used, your brand should shine through. This includes the tone of your written material: do you prefer a formal, traditional style or more casual and personal? Somber or witty? Clearly organized, or more organic and interactive? From corporate slogans and ad copy to press releases, media kits, and web content, the style and tone of your written communications should be consistent with the visual presentation of it.

RESULTS
Again, the key to successful branding is consistency. That goes for internal documents and presentations as well. Remember, it’s about identity. Employees are your most important spokespeople. If the memos, annual reports, and staff newsletters they see on the inside don’t live up to what’s being presented to the outside, it affects their confidence and trust – which is just as important as consumer faith.

Developing a strong brand takes time, but the rewards can be substantial. The term brand equity refers to the perceived added value of a brand that goes beyond the actual product or service itself. It encompasses brand recognition, perceived quality, and the positive associations people make with your company. Branding isn’t just a sales tool, it defines and reinforces how customers, employees, and even stakeholders identify with a company. In the long run, you’re developing brand loyalty - and that is pure gold.

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California Web Design specializes in innovative web, print and logo design combining impeccable design standards with the expertise of in-house developers and programmers to create visually stunning, effective and engaging websites that drive industry standards.

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