Branding has been described as both "the look and feel” of a business
The "Look" applies to the visual appearance through the logo, colours, uniforms, website, stationery, vehicles and advertising that differentiates your business from another.
The "Feel" applies to how people think about your business. It’s how your staff answer the phone, how easy your website is to use, what message your visual identity sends, how quickly staff respond to customer needs, the tone of your copy writing, and even, in the case of a retail environment, how your shop smells!
Building a brand helps customers in their decision-making by creating a perceived knowledge of what they are going to buy - before they buy it. For example, the success of the iPod introduced Apple to a legion of new customers. In turn, Apple's strong branding was acknowledged by Wall Street analysts as having led to the strong takeup of the iPhone and iPad as customers had confidence in the brand and felt some loyalty.
Brands are judged on three related criteria.
- Confidence in the business and it's products or services doing exactly what the customer already believes they will do.
- The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service from that business. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based on making their customers feel good about what they wear, how they feel about buying clothes from that shop and how they feel their choice of clothes affect how their peers see them. A successful brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer.
- Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a car valeting company can build its brand successfully if its customers' cars are always thoroughly cleaned, the owners are more likely to believe that they are using the best valeting company and they feel good about getting into and driving their newly cleaned cars.
We provide branding and corporate identity solutions for clients in Warrington, Manchester, Liverpool, Wirral and throughout Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside and beyond.
Do you have a successful brand? Do you need help with branding in the recession? We can assist you with honest advice and practical help in formulating a branding strategy to address your business challenges.
Get in touch today and let us help you with your branding issues.