Branding Basics: What is a Brand, and How Do I Strategize It?

What is a brand? Expert Marty Neumeier classifies a brand as, "A person's gut feeling about a product, service or company." Almost all companies use visual identifiers (logos) as a component of their brand strategy to help them differentiate themselves in the marketplace. But it shouldn't stop there. In fact, when I hear a company mention branding, most often they're referring to their logo. Unfortunately, that's selling the concept and process of brand strategy short.

So what is brand strategy? I 'd propose that it's a planned effort by a product, service or company to use consistent practices, interactions and design language in order to build a sense of value and trust in the eyes of current and potential customers. Yes, that includes the logo (right there in that design language part).

You might be thinking, "Value and trust— Got it." But there is a third component which could be the most important aspect of brand strategy, and that's consistency. To demonstrate why consistency is important, allow me to use an example: Suppose that you stopped at the corner coffee shop each morning on your way to work  (which isn't much of a stretch for some of us). For the first four days of the week, the coffee is amazing. Perfect roast, great flavor, etc. Then, on Friday, you swing by the same coffee shop for your daily cup of joe only to get to work and find that the coffee is awful. Not just questionable, but absolutely unpalatable. Are you going to go back to this same coffee shop week after week? After all, 80% of the time, their coffee is great. My guess is that you probably won't. There are plenty of other options in the coffee marketplace, and you're not going to waste your time and money on an inconsistent experience. Consistency is the difference on whether you continue to patronize that business. They've diminished their value by violating your trust that they'd provide a consistent product, day after day.

And the thing is, the story above only mentions the product aspect of the company/customer relationship. That same analogy, however, can be applied to virtually all facets of the business including; customer service, marketing, advertising, etc. You can start to see how the concept of a brand is so all-encompassing. It's difficult to think of a single element within a company that's unable to be tied to the brand in some way.

To recap, brands are important because they allow you to differentiate your product, service or company. When solid brand strategy is implemented consistently, a brand builds value in the eyes of its customers and creates a trust relationship. It's not difficult to imagine that people are much more comfortable buying things that they value from companies (or individuals) that they trust. Every interaction affects the perception of the brand, and it's virtually impossible to find an aspect of a business that doesn't have an impact on the brand in some way.

Thanks for reading.

—Jason @ Ideavise

Questions about brand strategy or positioning? Drop us a note in the comments section below.