What is Branding?

hat is Branding?

To start the discussion, let’s find out what actually makes a brand, “brand”. The response to this is pretty simple, it’s branding. But this might not be enough as we may still have more questions like: What’s branding? And do the strategies of branding applies to the businesses only, or to the products or services as well? Is it similar to Marketing or just a part of it?

As a student of Economics, and a hobbyist  brand strategist, I’ll introduce you some of the key principals you need to know in order to turn your business into a proper “Brand”. I’ll try to incorporate both of my Designer point-of-view and some relevant knowledge from Behavioral Economics in this feature article.

A brand can be of many things. But there is a tendency among us of perceiving the idea of brand wrongly. Let me first clear out the things that are NOT a brand first:

• A brand is not a logo
• A brand is not a product
• A brand is not an impression
• A brand is also not a promise

Then what really is a brand?

In one sentence, a brand is a result, a reputation of the business.

“A brand is a result, it’s a customer’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.”
- Marty Neumeier, father of Branding and author of “The Brand Flip”

If we want to open a venture or a product to a market, we may have a checklist of to-dos like coming up with a logo for the brand, adding tagline or starting ad campaigns to the suitable market(s), and then most of the time we call it off once the business is systemized. However, this approach risks creating a “soulless business” that fails to leverage the long-term benefits of branding, often due to common consumer behavioral patterns that I learned studying different Behavioral Economics concepts.

Imagine you’ve went to Bashundhara City to buy a new smartphone to gift your friend. You have a pretty decent budget for a flagship phone, and you end up in a corner of your favorite showroom where in one side, there’s the iconic iPhone/Pixel (strong brand) shelf and on the other side you have a lesser known generic brand’s shelf, where the smartphones are having similar or even more features than the iPhone offered, in much lower pricing. Although both phones may have similar features, I’d probably buy the iPhone/Pixel with considerably high pricing for my friend, just to be on the safer side; and I think, you’d do the same! Why? Well, it’s all about branding, it’s the reputation of the product.

The Importance of Strong Branding- In the Eye of Behavioral Economics

In simple words, brands like Apple excels in “anchoring” with its premium branding, enabling them to maintain high prices and a fiercely loyal customer base. They also sub-brand their products as well. A phone made by Apple is iPhone, the tablet is iPad, the laptop is MacBook, the earbuds are called AirPods. And Apple somehow do this so well that these products becomes a brand in their own segments, all the other brands only competes with Apple’s each product categories, not Apple itself.

If you also look into well known brand- Nike’s branding strategies, we’ll see that Nike effectively uses this consumer behavior “social proof” through their partnerships with famous athletes like Michael Jordan, or the G.O.A.T, Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s the emotion behind the branding, that fosters confidence in us gain a positive mindset towards this brands.

We can discuss these impacts of good branding on different brands for ours. But I think I’ve made my point here. Take your time in crafting branding properly, you’ll save months, or even years of work.

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Components of Branding

1. Visual Identity: This includes logos, colors, typography and other visual elements that makes a brand recognizable. For example, the swoosh logo of Nike, the apple of Apple, and more.
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2. Brand Voice: How your brand communicates with an audience is critical. A bank or insurance company generally should convey a tone/style/message of security, sincerity and professionalism through their marketing materials,  social media, customer service and more.
   
   But a personal brand often can experiment with different tone or style. When someone mentions about Ayman Sadiq in front of you, you may recall his sincere yet friendly smile from his lectures, videos and events everywhere. Whatever he does, he is never rude. This consistent tone of voice (both in his actual voice and written style) helps him to attract the ideal audience- the young students. But most of the time “relevance is more important than uniqueness”, in order to attract suitable audience and customers.

3. Marketing: There is a thin line between Branding & Marketing. Although it is easy to confuse branding with marketing. I need to write a whole table in order to bring up all the differences between Branding and Marketing:

Branding vs Marketing:
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1. Customer Experience (UX): Every interaction a customer has with a brand contributes to it’s overall reputation. It can include the quality of products or services, customer service and event the ease of navigating your website or store.
2. Brand Values and Mission: The principals and goals are the most critical elements that actually sets the direction of your brand’s identity. Brand that effectively communicate their mission and values often resonates more deeply with their audience. Think of like BRAC, which is known for its commitment to reduce discrimination and empower people economically, especially in rural areas of Bangladesh.

Personal Branding

Branding is not just for businesses only. It is equally important for individuals, especially in this modern era of gig economy. Personal branding consists of a unique professional brand identity, and reputation online. How you present yourself online, your social media profiles, your engagement with other people in your network and the consistency across different platforms actually matters. A strong personal brand can be leveraged to get new opportunities and career advancements as well.

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Conclusion

Branding is an essential aspect of modern business and personal development. It illustrates the visual, communicative and experiential elements that shapes the relationships with audiences. Whether you want to start a company or aiming to stand out in your career, understanding and investing in gaining more knowledge in branding can provide you with a significant edge. It’s all about ensuring to be relevant, trusted and memorable in the eyes of your expected audience.

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Written by:
Fattahia Shafihun Nafim
Department of Economics, University of Dhaka