What is Branding? Understanding Its Importance in 2024
Contrary to popular belief, companies don’t sell products — they sell branding.
They sell experiences, feelings, and ideologies. Businesses with amazing brands like Coca-Cola know exactly what experience they want customers to have when they make (or consider) a purchase.Being able to control the purchasing experience at this level is the power of branding at work.
This branding guide will help you create and manage a strong brand that’ll entice customers to admire, remember, and prefer your business over the competition.
So, keep reading or jump ahead to find what you need.
What is a brand?
” A brand is the identity and story of a company that makes it stand out from competitors that sell similar products or services. The goal of branding is to earn space in the minds of the target audience and become their preferred option for doing business. “
Brands are an effective way for companies to communicate their vision. A brand clarifies what a company stands for and why. A brand also refers to the overall experience a person has when interacting with a business — as a shopper, customer, social media follower, or mere passerby.
What is branding?
” Branding is the process of creating the brand identity of a company. This process also delivers materials that support the brand, like a logo, tagline, visual design, or tone of voice. “
In a nutshell, branding is the process of researching, developing, and applying a distinctive feature or set of features to your organization so that consumers can begin to associate your brand with your products or services.
Branding is in social media captions, billboard color palettes, and the materials brands use for their packaging.
Companies that create strong brands know that their brand identity needs to live everywhere. They know their names extend far beyond the label and can entice consumers to choose their products out of a lineup of options.
For example, the Coca-Cola brand has one of the most recognizable logos around the world. The classic red and white lettering, vibrant artwork, and distinctive font have captured buyers’ attention for over a century.
Having stood the test of time, the Coca-Cola brand is a testament to the power of consistent, successful branding that consumers have come to love. That said, branding is an iterative process and requires getting in touch with the heart of your customers and your business. However, it’s not exactly the same as marketing.
Next, we take a look at the similarities and differences between branding and marketing.
Branding vs. Marketing
While it‘s easy to combine branding and marketing into one discipline, they’re quite distinct. It’s also common to hear branding and marketing compared in terms of priorities. The truth is they are both essential to a successful business and must work in harmony for a business to grow.
Put simply, branding is the identity of a company, and marketing includes the tactics and strategies, which communicate that vision.
| Branding | Marketing |
|---|---|
| Develop the brand identity | Develops campaigns that connect the brand to products, mission, and goals. |
| Build customer trust with story | builds customer trust with actions |
| Strategies and tactics to support identity and story | Strategies brand story with specific initiatives |
| Focus on how an audience feels about your company | Focus on what an audience does your company |
As a business grows, both branding and marketing get more complex. This growth often means that both areas of a business will develop strategies and tactics to support different goals.
In branding, these actions usually support the business’s story and identity. In marketing, these actions usually amplify a company’s products, customers, or other initiatives in order to drive sales.
Branding is important for a variety of reasons — and we’ll go through them below.
Branding vs. Marketing
” Branding is the process of creating the brand identity of a company. This process also delivers materials that support the brand, like a logo, tagline, visual design, or tone of voice. “
Other benefits of branding include the following.
1. Influencing Purchasing Decisions
Branding shapes how consumers perceive a product or service.A strong brand image can create positive associations with quality, value, or a particular lifestyle, influencing purchasing decisions.
In fact, 62% of consumers say that their purchase decisions are heavily influenced by a brand’s values.
2. Creating an Identity for Your Business
A brand extends beyond a company’s product or service. Branding gives your business an identity. It gives consumers something to relate to and connect with beyond the product or service they’re actually purchasing.
3. Helping Customers Remember Your Business
Branding makes your business memorable. It’s the face of your company and helps consumers distinguish your business across every medium.
4. Boosting Advertising and Marketing
Branding supports your marketing and advertising efforts. It helps your promotion pack that extra punch with added recognition and impact.
5. Building Employee Support
Branding brings your employees pride. When you brand your company, you’re not only giving your business identity. You’re also creating a reputable, highly-regarded workplace. Strong branding brings in strong employees.
| Branding | blog.hubspot.com |
