You might have the impression that branding is only something that big businesses do. We believe that branding is beneficial for even the smallest business and the individual blogger alike. Branding is about turning what it is you do into something impactful. Your brand can subconsciously highlight your values and goals to your clients, without you saying anything.
What is Branding?
Branding is the process of creating a strong and positive perception of a company. Branding uses consistent themes and elements such as logos, colours, slogans, and brand names to establish a differentiated presence in the market. Branding is designed to make a brand memorable, and be easily recallable by consumers. Branding however is not limited to the visual aspect of a company, it also relies heavily on customer experience, and brand culture. e.g. Apple has a very positive brand image because they are heavily focused on making the buying experience as simple as possible for the customer. If a consumer can easily recall your brand, and has positive feelings about it, they will likely become a repeat customer.
Some examples of effective branding include:
McDonalds
McDonalds has an excellent branding strategy. The colours, golden arches and the slogan are all easily associated with the brand, and are consistent across all marketing campaigns. McDonalds is famous for fast food, and provides a successful service doing just that. McDonalds also recognises societies stance on issues such as sustainability, and adapts their brand to reflect the demands of consumers, i.e. Sustainable coffee beans
Google’s colour scheme is iconic. In fact, looking at the interactive dots alone, the colours are enough to associate to the brand Google. This is Google’s 2018 logo, and while it has changed over time, it still remains easily recognisable as the google brand due to the consistent colour scheme on a simple white background.
Nike
The Nike brand does not just aim to just sell shoes, it’s aims to promote and empower a lifestyle. Nike is most famous for its slogan ‘Just do it’, and the simplicity of its logo – the Nike Tick. The slogan alone has empowered people world wide, to get up and “Just do it”. Nike engages with their consumers through social media, and is very successful in creating communities through hashtags and shares.
Without realising you are exposed everyday to branding strategies. Subconsciously you have absorbed a number of brands and their messages without knowing.
Try this Corporate Logo Quiz to test your knowledge of logos, or this colour / brand association quiz. You’ll be surprised how many you know.
To find out how branding can help your business, give us a call and have a chat with Sam.
