Many people, even some expert marketers, struggle to define a brand or even define branding. The word ‘brand’ first emerged many decades ago as a strategy for cattle ranchers to identify their livestock. In the late 1880s, Coca-Cola and other packaged goods began taking off. The concept of brands was used to differentiate them from the competition.
Define a brand
The concept of branding has evolved. Over the decades, brands seem to have become more subjective. They are more about the consumers’ perceptions and accumulated meaning. Their perception of the brand is becoming more complex, hard to define, and difficult to pin down to with a straightforward definition.
To define a brand successfully, you must analyze the following factors.
1. Core values and purpose of your brand
All outstanding brands have core values, just like you do. Think of these values as the top virtues or key behaviors of your brand, and they must be expressed consistently. They are the theme or essence of your brand. Indeed, they are like a belief system of your brand.
To determine your brand’s core values, analyze the values of your business and the entire industry. Try to answer the following questions;
- What does your business do?
- Why does it do it?
- What services or products does it offer?
- What’s your business’s purpose in society?
Your brand must be consistent with these company values. Otherwise, you will find it more challenging to get your target audience to believe your brand’s promise.
2. Brand drivers
You cannot define a brand without mentioning its detailed aspects. These are the brand drivers and come in different forms. Indeed, they are important attributes of the brand.
Brand drivers could be the emotional or functional benefits that a brand delivers to your target audience. These benefits could also be self-expressive, in simple words, what the consumers say about your brand.
To successfully create brand drivers, make a comprehensive list of sentences and phrases about the brand that stretch it to the brand’s main purpose. Then group them in categories and edit them to get the most relevant drivers for your brand.
Pay attention to the following;
- Functional aspects of your brand (what do your products do?)
- Emotional aspects of the brand (how your products make consumers feel?)
- Economic aspects of the brand (how your products save money and time)
- Self-expressive aspects of the brand (how the products make you appear to others)
Generally, brand drivers add meaning to your brand. They are referred to as ‘drivers’ because they’re the specific ideas that you use to communicate and express what your brand is all about.
3. What do you want to brand?
To define a brand, you must decide what you intend to brand. The most common mistake many entrepreneurs and marketers when branding is to assume that a brand is a clever name and a beautiful logo. It’s more than that.
You can create a brand around a physical product or just a single feature of the product. For instance, Hertz, a car rental company, has successfully branded its Gold Club – an exclusive club for their loyal clients. Also, you can brand one ingredient within a product. Think about Gore-Tex, a unique fabric associated with many clothes for outdoor activities.
If your organization owns special tech, you may want to associate it with your brand. For example, Toyota branded its Hybrid Synergy Drive as an integral part of the company’s fleet of eco-friendly vehicles.
You can brand services too. Google, for instance, has successfully branded its services. Companies can also be branded. Starbucks has done so successfully.
So, take a look at your company and the product or services it offers. Try to identify what you have branded, a feature, a product, or the company itself.
4. Brand architecture
Brands are not lone wolves; they coexist with other brands. You must define this unique relationship by creating an outstanding brand architecture. The first thing you should think about the ‘house of brands.’ Some brands stand on their own. For example, Procter and Gamble’s company owns familiar brands such like Febreze, Tide laundry detergent, and Crest Toothpaste. Most people don’t know that P&G owns all these brands.
A house of difference is somewhat expensive. You must create a brand from the ground up. The benefit of this approach is that you get into new markets freely. For example, P&G can expand their product like easily. Most companies prefer this approach.
On the other hand, you can opt for a branded house approach. This is cost-effective because you are supposed to build a single brand. However, it limits the opportunity for expansion.
Generally, building a brand architecture make it possible to understand your brand appropriately. This is a huge plus for increasing your brand equity.
5. Brand personality
Have you ever realized that your brand can on a life on its own? Just like a person, a brand has a unique personality, also known as brand personality. This is a set of attributes (human-like) that your target audience would expect from an entity that keeps promises.
An outstanding persona helps your clients to understand your brand better. Consumers love outstanding brands, and most importantly, they tend to establish a lasting relationship with the brand. Do you now know why you should pay special attention to your brand’s persona?
When creating your brand persona, pay attention to the core dimensions of a persona. These include competence, sincerity, ruggedness, sophistication, and excitement. Within each of the core, traits are more detailed attributes. For instance, under sincerity, you find honesty, friendliness, and more.
Focus on building a brand with traits that rhyme with an entity that would make a promise and keep that promise. This will make your brand more authentic and trusted. Generally, an authentic brand is that it reflects the characteristics of a person who delivers value to the consumers. That’s what we call a successful brand building.
