What Is Branding and Why Does It Matter?

Brand identity is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small. It can be the difference between success and failure.

But what is branding? And why is it so important?

In this guide, we’ll explore the definition of branding, discuss how it affects businesses, and suggest ways to create an effective brand identity for a company.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what branding is, why it matters for every business, and how to establish a brand.

What Is a Brand?

In the simplest terms, you can think of a brand as a company’s personality. It is a business’s identity and the way it’s presented to the public in everything from a corporate website to advertising to product design. It encompasses what customers think of when they hear a company’s name, what they remember about it, what they associate with its products or services, and what feelings they have toward it. A strong brand creates an emotional response in customers, encouraging trust and loyalty.

A brand is not simply your business name. Rather, it’s what you stand for, your values, and what sets your business apart from competitors. It’s what your company represents to the public. 

Two great examples of iconic brands are Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Both offer very similar products, and in fact, there are plenty of other cola products on the market that compete with them. But, what makes Pepsi and Coca-Cola special is their unique brand identities. Through strong branding, they have created emotional responses from consumers that associate each drink with a certain feeling or lifestyle.

Each of these companies has its own unique, recognizable personality and an extremely loyal customer base. You’ll find similar loyalty with many athletic brands, fashion brands, makeup brands, department stores, and more — even when the products they sell are remarkably similar.

What Is Branding?

Branding is the process of establishing that brand identity and creating an emotional connection with customers. It’s what sets a company apart from its competition and what turns potential customers into loyal ones. A well-crafted brand conveys what makes a business unique, what it stands for, and why people should choose it over others.

Branding is what makes a customer choose Coca-Cola over Pepsi, Mastercard over Visa, Nike over Adidas, and Apple over Microsoft (or vice versa).

Defining Your Brand and Your Product

The first step in developing a successful brand identity is to define what your brand stands for and what makes it unique. This involves answering the following questions:

• Who is your ideal customer?
• What are their needs?
• What value do your products and services offer?
• What sets you apart from your competitors?
• What emotional response do you want them to have?

Once you have a clear understanding of what your brand is and what it stands for, you can begin to create a brand. We’ll dive more into how to do that below.

Why Is Branding Important?

A strong brand identity can help businesses stand out from the competition and create an emotional connection with customers. It can help differentiate a business and what it stands for, build trust with customers, and establish loyalty.

Additionally, a branding package will define the look and feel of your business, helping to create a consistent and recognizable brand image across all channels. This can increase brand awareness, making it easier for customers to recognize what your company offers and what sets it apart from competitors.

The Benefits of Effective Branding

Here are some of the many benefits of a successful branding strategy:

1. Stand Out from Competitors

A great brand lets potential customers know what makes your company unique and what sets it apart from others in the market. It creates a sense of trust and familiarity that can influence customer decisions.

2. Improved Brand Awareness

A consistent branding package helps customers recognize that your company offers what it stands for. This can increase brand recall, making it more likely that potential customers will choose your product over a competitor’s.

For example, when you see those familiar golden arches of McDonald’s, you know you’ll get the same tasting fries in Paris, France, or Sandusky, Ohio.

3. Improved Brand Recognition

With consistent branding across all channels, customers will come to recognize the look and feel of your business. This can help set customer expectations, create trust, and increase the likelihood that people will choose your product or service.

4. Establish Trust

A strong brand identity helps customers see what your stand for, what makes your business different, and what value it offers. This can, in turn, create trust between customers and your company. Consumer trust is one of your company’s most valuable assets.

5. Attract New Customers

Strong brand equity can help attract new customers to your business. As people get to know what you stand for and what sets you apart, they may be more likely to choose your product or service over a competitor’s.

6. Employee Pride

Having a well-defined brand identity provides employees with a sense of pride and job satisfaction. Knowing what the company stands for and what it offers customers can help build morale and give employees a sense of purpose. In other words, employees who feel connected to a brand and its values will feel more excited to work for the company.

7. Increased Business Value

Strong branding can lead to increased business value as target customers recognize what you stand for, what makes your business unique, and what value it offers them. This can help set your company apart from the competition and increase customer loyalty.

How to Create a Brand

Creating a brand identity involves several key elements, including defining what makes your business unique, developing mission and vision statements, creating logos and other visual elements that reflect what you stand for, and establishing verbal guidelines for how to talk about your brand. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Define Your Target Audience

Before beginning your branding journey, it’s important to identify who your target audience is and what their needs are. Think about your ideal customer. Knowing who you’re targeting can help inform what value you offer them and what sets your business apart from the competition. Some businesses conduct marketing research to aid in this step.

Develop Mission and Vision Statements

What’s the purpose of your business? What values does it stand for? How does your company meet customer expectations? Take time to consider what makes your company unique and what sets it apart from competitors. 

Identify What Makes Your Brand Unique

Think about what makes you different from other businesses in the market. Do you offer a unique tangible product or a sought-after service? Are you known for impeccable customer service? Are there certain unshakeable values or principles that you stand for? All of these elements should be reflected in your branding efforts.

Establish a Verbal Identity

Develop guidelines for how to talk about your business and what it stands for. This could include developing key messaging, taglines, elevator pitches, and copywriting. That language should reflect what makes your business unique and what sets it apart from the competition.

Going back to our Coca-Cola example from earlier, this brand changes its verbal identity often to adapt to the times, but currently, Coke’s tagline is “Real Magic is only a sip away.” 

Establish a Visual Identity

Creating visual elements that reflect what your business stands for is also an important part of branding. This includes developing a color story, creating logos and identity marks, choosing fonts, images, and more to help create a consistent look across all channels — print, social media, web, advertising, in-store, and more.

This is another step in which consumer research might help determine what visual elements resonate best with your target audience.

For example, McDonald’s visual identity includes a set of unmistakable golden arches. Nike’s visual identity includes the instantly recognizable swoosh. Tiffany & Co. is famously known for a particular shade of blue.

Design Your Visual Assets

Once you’ve established what your brand stands for and created visuals that reflect what makes it unique, it’s time to create visual assets. This could include product packaging, website designs, brochures, advertising materials, business cards, and more. 

Create an Advertising and Promotional Strategy

Once you have your visual identity and messaging in place, it’s time to develop a strategy for advertising and promoting your business. This could include creating content for social media platforms, developing email campaigns, using traditional marketing tools like print, radio, and public relations, or running influencer campaigns.

By following the above steps, you can create an effective brand identity that reflects what your business stands for and what sets it apart from the competition. A well-defined brand identity will help customers recognize what you offer, build trust, and ultimately lead to increased customer loyalty.

What Is Branding? Final Thoughts

Branding is an important part of any business, as it helps create a unique identity and forge relationships with customers. It involves creating visuals, language, messaging, and more that reflect what makes your business unique and what value it offers customers and potential consumers. By establishing consistent branding across all channels, customers will come to recognize the look and feel of your business, build trust and loyalty, and increase business value.

Creating strong brand equity takes time and effort but can ultimately be what sets your business apart from the competition. Branding efforts alone may be the one thing that makes a target customer choose one brand of ice cream over another when they are both the same flavor of Rocky Road.

Take time to consider what makes your business unique and what values you stand for. Ensure that your branding is consistent across all channels. This is the concept of branding — what makes your business stand out in the market. It’s what customers recognize and what sets you apart.

With some time, effort, and creativity, you can create a strong branding strategy that will set your business up for success.