What is Branding?

Not too many online marketing blogs talk about branding. But, I recently read a great post by Kenny Hyder that discusses branding.

In the comments when I asked why not enough companies care about branding he said “I think it’s just that most are une­du­ca­ted (about branding).”

I tend to agree with his observation. Most companies probably have an outdated perception of branding.

Branding: Entire process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product (good or service) in the consumers’ mind, through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. – Courtesy of the Business Dictionary

By this definition the company has complete control over their brand; which is no longer the case.

I can understand that people still probably think branding is what it was in the Mad Men days of advertising. A select few marketers decide what they want the company to stand for and create marketing materials around that concept. Back then advertisers had the biggest share of voice, there was no social networking, there were no product review bloggers, and the only thing people could rely on was what the company advertised and what their next door neighbor had to say about their products. But this is today. Today, everyone has a voice, an opinion and a megaphone to tell everybody about it.

In my humble opinion, branding is practically everything you do as a company, not just that concept that was cooked up in a Madison Ave boardroom. I understand that some of you are probably scoffing at that thought, but the best way to explain it is through role playing.
Let’s pretend that your company is a Next Day Express Courier and your company stands for fast and friendly service. You’ve got a slick logo, all your ads are top notch and you’ve even got a great tagline…”Fast & Friendly, Right to Your Door”.

Let’s see how this flies in the face of your (fictitious) company actions.

• The customer service people don’t sound very friendly and actually sound indifferent.
• Your payment processor adds a $5 undocumented surcharge to every order under $50.
• Delivery times are spotty and aren’t exactly next day.
• The trucks your company uses are kind of grungy and someone swiped a little reminder in the dirt that says “Wash Me”.

I know this is an extreme example, but hopefully you get the point. Branding is everything that you do as a company. If your marketing team comes up with a brand, the rest of the company has to make sure that everything they do aligns with that brand. Because regardless of what you want your customers to believe; it’s the actual interactions with your company that bolsters the brand and has very little with what you say about yourself.

Tagged as: branding