Your brand is simply the combination of all the things that make you memorable. While your logo is an important part of your brand, as we said brands are more than a logo— it’s a reflection of the unique differentiators that set you apart in the marketplace. In short, it’s what makes you who you are. Having a strong brand is an essential foundation of successful marketing. How you do it can make or break your business, and when you get it right your customers can emotionally identify with your produce, service or cause because they believe in your brand, in its purpose, its promise and its principles!

DRIVING AN EMOTIONAL TIE 

BUILDING BRAND VALUE

One of the most enduring benefits of an exceptional company brand is the value it can add to your business – not only monetarily, but how much people want to invest long term.

Consumers love becoming loyal to brands – it lowers a perceived purchase risk. Consistent, relevant, valuable branding helps build that loyalty. You also then find that this loyalty starts to build brand advocacy as your consumers start to spread your message.

DRIVING REVENUE

One of the most desired benefits of a brand is its impact on revenues. Branding helps qualify customers more quickly, helping to improve marketing efforts by attracting the right people who are likely to become customers. This in turn has a tremendous impact on sales, who spend more time helping prospects who are already ready to buy. 

BRAND EQUITY
 
For many companies, the asset value of the brand can eclipse the book value of all their assets. Consider the market value of brands like: Coke,, Google or Apple. What was once referred to as “goodwill” has been effectively replaced by brand equity. Branding is an investment that returns dividends over many years, and should be capitalized like any durable asset. But many people make the mistake of looking at ROI in terms of profit and loss. P&L measurement works best for marketing, where campaigns can be measured for direct results. Branding requires balance sheet thinking to properly understand it’s true potential.

What are you doing to develop your brand? The simple measurement is an annual budget assigned for its care. If you’re relying on a simply a designer to manage your brand you are risking losing its integrity.  

KEEP IT CONSISTENT

In psychology, the principle of consistency is expressed in consumers’ desire to be consistent with what they have already said or done. For example, if you purchased an Apple product once you are likely to have an unconscious desire to be consistent with previous actions, making you the perfect target for their next product or for upgrading your existing one.

The same principle can be at work in your company. Brands can promote repeat purchases and referral business. Both the brand is consistent in design and delivery and end-users desire to be consistent in their buying habits.

The branding process results in documents that help creatives maintain consistency without restrictions. The brand platform, brand messaging toolkit, and brand standards manual are extremely important documents that can be distributed to marketers, designers, and salespeople to teach them how the brand works.