What is Branding?
The unique identity of a company through its name, design, and logo is called branding. It makes the product or services of a company easily identifiable and distinguishable. Its importance lies in the connection it builds over years with its customers. Customer perception of a company and expectation from the company depends, to a great extent, on the strength of brand identity and on it rests the overall success or failure of any business.
(See also our blog on Brand Vs Logo for better understanding)
For any business to thrive, its presence, prominence, and popularity are predominantly the prerequisites. And in this context, any Tom, Dick, and Harry can jolly well say, how important it is to build a strong brand identity. Like we take care of our first impressions, we should be very careful about making our lasting impressions. Branding is very critical to any business for it is this face value that dictates the visibility and growth of any business entity.
What Makes a Strong Brand?
Rome was not built in a day. The famous Konark Temple of Odisha took 1200 artisans a whopping 12 years of time to erect an architectural marvel. Every great thing takes time to be built and so also the brand. No brand can be built in a day, it will surely have to stand the test of time.
In addition, its concept, craftsmanship, rigour, and characteristics of customer-connect contribute tremendously to its sustainability and success. Among some of the factors, are the 5C’s, that contribute to building a brand strong: Clarity, Competency, Consistency, Credibility, and Customer Centrality.
Why is Branding Important?
There are certain brands that have created very distinct places in customers’ minds for over years. For example; LIC dominates the insurance market despite having a dozen of insurance players. XEROX has been coined as a word and been inducted into the dictionary owing to its popularity and its in-distinctive use for photocopies.
People remember and recognise all washing powders to be SURF. In true sense, these brands have not only catered to the customers’ needs but also at the same time have become a part of their lives. Hence creating a brand which can stay long, reach all, win all is quintessential.
Building such a brand is critical. It takes into account all the minute of minutest details starting from conceiving to concretising a concept.
A few case studies of successful business entities can give us some peep into their stories but that’s not enough. We need to think out of the box and deliver something different. And presumably, our understanding of the corporates, customer culture, and competitive acumen can help us notch up in the ladder. A well-crafted branding can impact people’s perception, help drive new business, and increase brand awareness.
Branding is what it does for the business. Here are some key benefits of branding:
Above are the reason for Power of Branding
1. Customer Recognition
A brand is unmistakably the first point of connection for customers with the products of any company. It is the elements of branding like the logo, colour, and packaging of a product that grabs customers’ attention and creates an urge to go for the same, surely not only for these attributes but also for the everlasting impressive interactions the customer would have had with the company before.
Familiarising the product or services of a company among its existing and prospective target audience can drive profitable business. Customer recognition is the key to success as it leads to frequent future interactions of the customer with the company thereby strengthening the customer-company-alliance.
2. Business Generation
Promotion through word-of-mouth has no competition. A good brand is unstoppable in terms of its reachability and acceptability. Referral businesses will have no bounds in case of a strong brand.
Customers will propagate and promote the brand on their own for their familiarity and dependability on the same. What more a company can expect of its customers who promote the brand they use and the brand they trust.
3. Market Penetration
With the help of word of mouth one of the effective branding techniques, the market expands its boundary from typical urban set up to capture rural extension. Presence and recognition of the brand across markets help it hold the largest business share and thereby makes it a choice over others. Strong market presence also helps boost the sales of a new range of products and services of the company.
The success of any brand depends on its market capture. For example, when JIO one of the established brand stepped into the telecom sector, understanding the psyche of Indian Users, it launched free data services for all new users across Indian markets, both rural and urban. In a short span of time, it could capture the largest market share in India and gave a good run for the money for its competitors.
4. Credibility Creation
A good branding with all its indispensable ingredients coupled with customer satisfaction and customer promotion increases the company’s credibility within the industry and with the customers. Company credibility is one of the key factors that can dictate its success story.
Once the trust is built, the company can encash its reputation by delivering and retaining its standard and can make itself a truly professional entity. Innovative strategies and professionalism in every deliverance help build customer loyalty which works as a lynchpin to brand stability, sustainability, and prosperity.
5. Talent Pool Formation
People, in general, are always attracted to trusted brands. In India hundreds and thousands of candidates take the JEE Main Exam, NEET Exam, CAT, UPSC, GATE, and even GMAT and TOEFL because they aspire to get into some of the top schools or organisations of the country and the world. Best institutes of the world are not for what they are but for the students they have. Great and successful companies are what their employees make them.
Good branding techniques are always seen by great thinkers, professionals, innovators, designers, strategists, and influencers. These are the resources who make a company stand out from the rest. Google, Intel, Amazon, Apple, Bose and others are of course the great enterprises for the Human Resources they have and this is a double bonanza for any business entity to have the best of creators and the best of consumers. Branding plays safe in garnering both ends of the string.
6. Confidence Construction
Last but not the least, it fetches a ‘win-win’ for all. Being confident of what you are offering to an equally confident consumer is the hallmark of success for any business firm. Enterprisers invest their entire life reaching to or achieving this acme. This also makes it an absolute successful business proposition for others to follow.
Branding is everything; it gives you reputation, builds customer connection, extends boundaries, builds credibility and confidence, attracts talent, shows new directions, expands dimensions, and eventually pushes your business to greater heights.
So build a brand and boost your business! Hope you enjoy the power of Branding!