So What's the Deal With Branding?

Hello, its Justin at World of Branding. 

I know many of you have at least a vague idea of what branding means and what it looks like. And if you know that, you know how important it is in business. It can even be applied to your personal life if you feel that urge (not sure I recommend going that route). 

You can walk through practically any place of business anywhere in the country to see examples of branding and how prominent it is. I think that pretty quickly shows you how valuable the concept is, and in turn how valuable it can be for you to study and put into action good strategy.

A good foundation ought to be useful when it comes to putting into practice solid branding strategy in your business.

So what is branding exactly?

Branding as a concept isn’t really complex or anything. Just to put it academically, a brand is the combination of names, symbols, terms, or design that can identify a specific product. 

So that boils down to a brand name and a brand mark, or logo. Basically something that makes your product or service easy to distinguish from all the others. 

If you know anything about marketing and sales, you probably know that being able to differentiate yourself from the competition is pretty valuable. It often isn’t enough to simply make your product different from others. Your branding has to be on point too.

Things get more interesting when you get past the specific logo or mark you use. Or whatever name you go by. 

It’s ultimately the emotional effect your brand has on your audience. That goes far past logos or names. 

It is the emotional response a certain name or logo gives someone, which makes however pretty or nifty the logo somewhat unimportant. Depending on the industry of course. I can think of some industries where how appealing the logo is or how hip the name is can make a big difference in the traction a brand gets. 

Which leads into a good starting point of the newsletter.

Figuring out what your own identity is and what your values, principles, history, and story are can help you figure out the perception you wish for your brand to have.

Building a brand is done over time. Sometimes very long times. So it’s important to have the foundation figured out, at least to some extent, and then be consistent honest in everything you do from then on.

Im glad you’re a part of the branding mastery journey with me. This is just getting things started, and you should hear from me again soon in the next newsletter!