How To Create A Brand?
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“STARBUCKS” “CANON” “IKEA” “VOLKSWAGEN” “REEBOK” “ZARA” .When we hear these names the first thought that comes in our mind is?….It’s a brand. Though they are successful ventures, yet we prefer calling them “BRANDS”. For instance, if we want to buy clothes we won’t say “Oh yes!!! I would prefer the clothes from ZARA business” rather we would say “Oh yes!!! I would prefer the clothes from the brand ZARA”. Everyone can create a business but making it a brand is a long journey. Just a company logo or slogan cannot make your business a brand. The unique thought which people gets after looking at your company logo or hearing about you is something that establishes your business as a brand. Thinking on how can you create a brand? Well today in this blog will throw some light on the below mentioned pointers.
- What is a Brand Identity?
- Why it is important to build a brand?
- How to create a brand?
Here, we begin.
Brand Identity:
Brand identity plays a very significant role for your company’s reputation. Brand Identity is not what the company communicates to the people but it is the word of mouth about the company that goes from one person to another. Various factors like company’s values, communication style, product offerings, logos, and colors etc…helps in representing your brand to the entire world. However, the way it has been perceived eventually becomes the identity of your brand.
Why is it important to build a brand?
Today the market is crowded with lots of companies who are in the race to attain recognition or distinction. Therefore, it has become very essential to build your brand that will give you a unique identity which would eventually help you to gain prosperity in the tremendous competition. It helps in building customer’s trust ultimately the customers become loyal to the brand. When the customers are loyal they are ready to pay a premium for brands thus it also impacts the pricing strategy.
For example, Gucci usually sells out their t shirts at a starting range of $500, which people are actually buying. So what makes their t-shirt worth $500? It’s simply the powerful branding.
How to create a brand:
Since, we have got clarity on what is brand identity and why it is important. Now it’s time to create a brand. Brand creation cannot happen like at a link of an eye, it is a process that will require a lot of hard work, patience and strategy. Check out the below steps that will help you in creating your own brand.
1. Purpose of the brand: If I ask you a question that what is your purpose of creating a brand? The probability that you might misunderstand my question is very high. And I am sure lot of you will answer by saying earning profits. But then let me tell you it is not the purpose that I am talking about. Well, all I mean is…. the purpose of your brand should be something that can make you stand out from the crowd. For example, the online service named “Homely” provides food that are home made so the purpose of this brand is to provide nutritious food to working professionals who are too busy to cook on their own. Hence, once you define your brand’s purpose then make it a well written mission statement. As this will differentiate your company from other competitors who are doing the same thing. Therefore, purpose is very important as it defines your brand.
2. Identify the target customers: First decide on whom you want to sell? & why is it important? Because accordingly your strategy will be designed. It’s important to target a specific audience so that you will be more focused and there will be very little room for diversion. For example, look at Apple iPhones. They aren’t targeting everyone but they are very clear that there product are designed for high income groups and therefore they do not compromise on their pricing. This clarity helps them not to get diverted or influenced by market pressures.
3. Get your brand a voice: Post you have identified your audience, it is important to create a unique voice for your brand. Depending on the target audience, voice can be professional or casual. But remember which ever voice you choose, it has to be consistent across all the channels. Prior deciding on the brand voice, it is vital to understand the type of business you are in. For instances, businesses who are selling software’s can’t have a same brand voice like someone who is selling clothes.
4. Story behind brand: Many a times the inspiration behind certain businesses is very thoughtful and touching. If you also have one such inspiration then convey the same to your target audience which will further strengthen your connection with them. For example, When Mr. Ratan Tata was asked that why he launched Nano car, he said something very interesting…. he said that once he was travelling in his car and he saw a family of four on a bike and that’s when he thought of creating a car which would be budget friendly for such families.
5. Visual Representation: The visual elements of your brand like logo, color palette and typography decides how people will perceive your brand. Hence, it carries a significant weightage in your branding strategy.
6. Differentiate your brand: Do a detailed research about your competitors as this will give you a better understanding of what they are doing? And this will help you in differentiating your strategy. Never copy the branding strategy of the already established business because if you follow the same path you would fail to differentiate that would land you up in a disastrous situation.
7. Implement your strategy: Once you have decided on your branding strategy, it is time to implement that strategy. This can be done in many ways like design your website, create social media profiles; make your brand visible on various marketing channels. In short, build out your brand to get the visibility.
8. Promotion: After you build your brand, start the promotional activities. You can run the promotional activities through social media ads, PPC campaigns, email marketing, radio ads, guerilla marketing etc…. Just remember that each promotional activity should mirror your branding strategy.
9. Get Brand Advocates: The best branding is the one which spreads like a fire in a forest. Your marketing strategies should be such that your existing customers spread a positive word of mouth. For this you can encourage more reviews from the customers & you can use an influencer who can advocate your brand.
10. Keep evolving as a brand: Change is the only permanent thing. Therefore with the changing times you will have to be ready to adapt the new trends. The branding strategy which would be effective today might not work tomorrow. Also it is important to remember that we can’t be adamant in your attitude, we need to keep improving to survive. Hence, even as a brand we will have to evolve to survive the competition.
Conclusion:
Branding make one’s mark and can do unbelievable things. So don’t think much just follow the above mentioned steps to build a brand of your own.
“STARBUCKS” “CANON” “IKEA” “VOLKSWAGEN” “REEBOK” “ZARA” .When we hear these names the first thought that comes in our mind is?….It’s a brand. Though they are successful ventures, yet we prefer calling them “BRANDS”. For instance, if we want to buy clothes we won’t say “Oh yes!!! I would prefer the clothes from ZARA business” rather we would say “Oh yes!!! I would prefer the clothes from the brand ZARA”. Everyone can create a business but making it a brand is a long journey. Just a company logo or slogan cannot make your business a brand. The unique thought which people gets after looking at your company logo or hearing about you is something that establishes your business as a brand. Thinking on how can you create a brand? Well today in this blog will throw some light on the below mentioned pointers.
- What is a Brand Identity?
- Why it is important to build a brand?
- How to create a brand?
Here, we begin.
Brand Identity:
Brand identity plays a very significant role for your company’s reputation. Brand Identity is not what the company communicates to the people but it is the word of mouth about the company that goes from one person to another. Various factors like company’s values, communication style, product offerings, logos, and colors etc…helps in representing your brand to the entire world. However, the way it has been perceived eventually becomes the identity of your brand.
Why is it important to build a brand?
Today the market is crowded with lots of companies who are in the race to attain recognition or distinction. Therefore, it has become very essential to build your brand that will give you a unique identity which would eventually help you to gain prosperity in the tremendous competition. It helps in building customer’s trust ultimately the customers become loyal to the brand. When the customers are loyal they are ready to pay a premium for brands thus it also impacts the pricing strategy.
For example, Gucci usually sells out their t shirts at a starting range of $500, which people are actually buying. So what makes their t-shirt worth $500? It’s simply the powerful branding.
How to create a brand:
Since, we have got clarity on what is brand identity and why it is important. Now it’s time to create a brand. Brand creation cannot happen like at a link of an eye, it is a process that will require a lot of hard work, patience and strategy. Check out the below steps that will help you in creating your own brand.
1. Purpose of the brand: If I ask you a question that what is your purpose of creating a brand? The probability that you might misunderstand my question is very high. And I am sure lot of you will answer by saying earning profits. But then let me tell you it is not the purpose that I am talking about. Well, all I mean is…. the purpose of your brand should be something that can make you stand out from the crowd. For example, the online service named “Homely” provides food that are home made so the purpose of this brand is to provide nutritious food to working professionals who are too busy to cook on their own. Hence, once you define your brand’s purpose then make it a well written mission statement. As this will differentiate your company from other competitors who are doing the same thing. Therefore, purpose is very important as it defines your brand.
2. Identify the target customers: First decide on whom you want to sell? & why is it important? Because accordingly your strategy will be designed. It’s important to target a specific audience so that you will be more focused and there will be very little room for diversion. For example, look at Apple iPhones. They aren’t targeting everyone but they are very clear that there product are designed for high income groups and therefore they do not compromise on their pricing. This clarity helps them not to get diverted or influenced by market pressures.
3. Get your brand a voice: Post you have identified your audience, it is important to create a unique voice for your brand. Depending on the target audience, voice can be professional or casual. But remember which ever voice you choose, it has to be consistent across all the channels. Prior deciding on the brand voice, it is vital to understand the type of business you are in. For instances, businesses who are selling software’s can’t have a same brand voice like someone who is selling clothes.
4. Story behind brand: Many a times the inspiration behind certain businesses is very thoughtful and touching. If you also have one such inspiration then convey the same to your target audience which will further strengthen your connection with them. For example, When Mr. Ratan Tata was asked that why he launched Nano car, he said something very interesting…. he said that once he was travelling in his car and he saw a family of four on a bike and that’s when he thought of creating a car which would be budget friendly for such families.
5. Visual Representation: The visual elements of your brand like logo, color palette and typography decides how people will perceive your brand. Hence, it carries a significant weightage in your branding strategy.
6. Differentiate your brand: Do a detailed research about your competitors as this will give you a better understanding of what they are doing? And this will help you in differentiating your strategy. Never copy the branding strategy of the already established business because if you follow the same path you would fail to differentiate that would land you up in a disastrous situation.
7. Implement your strategy: Once you have decided on your branding strategy, it is time to implement that strategy. This can be done in many ways like design your website, create social media profiles; make your brand visible on various marketing channels. In short, build out your brand to get the visibility.
8. Promotion: After you build your brand, start the promotional activities. You can run the promotional activities through social media ads, PPC campaigns, email marketing, radio ads, guerilla marketing etc…. Just remember that each promotional activity should mirror your branding strategy.
9. Get Brand Advocates: The best branding is the one which spreads like a fire in a forest. Your marketing strategies should be such that your existing customers spread a positive word of mouth. For this you can encourage more reviews from the customers & you can use an influencer who can advocate your brand.
10. Keep evolving as a brand: Change is the only permanent thing. Therefore with the changing times you will have to be ready to adapt the new trends. The branding strategy which would be effective today might not work tomorrow. Also it is important to remember that we can’t be adamant in your attitude, we need to keep improving to survive. Hence, even as a brand we will have to evolve to survive the competition.
Conclusion:
Branding make one’s mark and can do unbelievable things. So don’t think much just follow the above mentioned steps to build a brand of your own.
