What Is Branding?
What is branding? There is no hotter buzzword in marketing. But what exactly is it? Can
anyone do it?
When we think of brands, we think often think of logos and product names: Coca-Cola,
arguably the most recognizable on Planet Earth. Kleenex, which has become so
ingrained in our lexicon that people usually say the brand instead of the word “tissue.”
Dishwashing detergent, food labels, clothing. These name-brands are everywhere.
But branding is much, much more than just a logo and a catchy saying. Anybody can
do that and call it a brand. But this is what branding really is: the market’s perception
of you.
Your slogan, color, name or catchy jingle is a mere label for that perception, an
identifier of the stellar service and product you provide.
Think about it. You always hear: “The brand customers trust.” When you’re making
airline reservations, do you usually go with someone you’ve never traveled with before,
or do you go with a carrier you’ve used many times? If you go with the latter, it’s
probably due to these reasons: you’ve had pleasant experiences with them. Your
flights arrived on time, and your bags were never lost. Their fare, while maybe a little
more than the upstarts, is a small price to pay for the comfort and service you know you’
ll receive. You’re loyal to that brand.
Food products. Many people have specific brands they use, and won’t touch any other,
regardless of price, or how out of the way the only supermarket that carries the brand is
from their home. That’s brand loyalty.
There’s a thousand different examples. But here’s the mistake that many business
owners make: They believe that snappy advertising, great brochures, cool commercials
and crazy gimmicks are what makes a brand name. But it doesn’t. All it does is
convince prospects to try you out, and keeps your name in front of existing customers,
but it doesn’t automatically guarantee loyalty.
You get that loyalty through a great product, great service and building a quality, “can’t
live without you” perception in your customer’s minds. And its something any
business, no matter the size, can do.
Example: A friend of mine was devoted to her local dry-cleaner. He was fast, her
clothes were always perfect, his prices were reasonable and he remembered everyone
who darkened his door, making his customers feel welcome. His service was
spectacular, and my friend was an ardent evangelist for him, telling everyone she knew
that his was the only place in town to clean clothes. When his rent went up, he was
forced to raise his rates a bit. But my friend, and his other customers, didn’t care. He
had branded himself as indispensable for his service, and they stayed loyal to him. He
wasn’t a big company like Coca-Cola or Xerox. He was a local dry-cleaner in a South
Florida suburb. But he had branded himself beautifully.
Moral of the story---the brand may be your logo, slogan, marketing and advertising
efforts. But “branding” is your reputation, that is built over time. Use marketing to get
customers in the door. And use your product and service to make them loyal to the
brand.
Julie Ann Waid is owner of Waidwrites Communications, a full-service writing
and editing firm specializing in marketing communications. Sign up for her free e-
zine “J’s Communique: Marketing Tips For Business” at www.waidwrites.
com/freetips .
Copyright 2006, Julie Ann Waid. All rights reserved in the U.S. and abroad. This
article is free to be distributed free of charge so long as the resource box above
is left intact.
What is branding? There is no hotter buzzword in marketing. But what exactly is it? Can
anyone do it?
When we think of brands, we think often think of logos and product names: Coca-Cola,
arguably the most recognizable on Planet Earth. Kleenex, which has become so
ingrained in our lexicon that people usually say the brand instead of the word “tissue.”
Dishwashing detergent, food labels, clothing. These name-brands are everywhere.
But branding is much, much more than just a logo and a catchy saying. Anybody can
do that and call it a brand. But this is what branding really is: the market’s perception
of you.
Your slogan, color, name or catchy jingle is a mere label for that perception, an
identifier of the stellar service and product you provide.
Think about it. You always hear: “The brand customers trust.” When you’re making
airline reservations, do you usually go with someone you’ve never traveled with before,
or do you go with a carrier you’ve used many times? If you go with the latter, it’s
probably due to these reasons: you’ve had pleasant experiences with them. Your
flights arrived on time, and your bags were never lost. Their fare, while maybe a little
more than the upstarts, is a small price to pay for the comfort and service you know you’
ll receive. You’re loyal to that brand.
Food products. Many people have specific brands they use, and won’t touch any other,
regardless of price, or how out of the way the only supermarket that carries the brand is
from their home. That’s brand loyalty.
There’s a thousand different examples. But here’s the mistake that many business
owners make: They believe that snappy advertising, great brochures, cool commercials
and crazy gimmicks are what makes a brand name. But it doesn’t. All it does is
convince prospects to try you out, and keeps your name in front of existing customers,
but it doesn’t automatically guarantee loyalty.
You get that loyalty through a great product, great service and building a quality, “can’t
live without you” perception in your customer’s minds. And its something any
business, no matter the size, can do.
Example: A friend of mine was devoted to her local dry-cleaner. He was fast, her
clothes were always perfect, his prices were reasonable and he remembered everyone
who darkened his door, making his customers feel welcome. His service was
spectacular, and my friend was an ardent evangelist for him, telling everyone she knew
that his was the only place in town to clean clothes. When his rent went up, he was
forced to raise his rates a bit. But my friend, and his other customers, didn’t care. He
had branded himself as indispensable for his service, and they stayed loyal to him. He
wasn’t a big company like Coca-Cola or Xerox. He was a local dry-cleaner in a South
Florida suburb. But he had branded himself beautifully.
Moral of the story---the brand may be your logo, slogan, marketing and advertising
efforts. But “branding” is your reputation, that is built over time. Use marketing to get
customers in the door. And use your product and service to make them loyal to the
brand.
Julie Ann Waid is owner of Waidwrites Communications, a full-service writing
and editing firm specializing in marketing communications. Sign up for her free e-
zine “J’s Communique: Marketing Tips For Business” at www.waidwrites.
com/freetips .
Copyright 2006, Julie Ann Waid. All rights reserved in the U.S. and abroad. This
article is free to be distributed free of charge so long as the resource box above
is left intact.
