What is a brand? Why is a brand important? How do you create a brand?
The knee-jerk reaction here might be to just name a brand.
Oh, McDonalds is a brand, Nike is a brand, so is Apple.
But that’s an example of a brand, what is a brand?
DEFINITION: A brand is a product or business with a distinct identity among consumers. A brand is created through design, packaging, and advertising elements that distinguish the product from its competitors.
It encompasses many elements from graphic design and copy to logo and slogan. You can also include colour palette, font type, and even a character or celebrity.
For example: Duolingo, the popular language learning app, is a brand. Parts of their branding include the iconic green owl called Duo, a cartoony/simple art style, and a rather unhinged approach to their social media (As of writing Duo has been killed and a community event has been kickstarted to investigate Duo’s death with the possibility of reviving him if enough people do their language lessons, go figure).
Branding is all about conveying a message that a product or service is more effective, easier to use, better tasting, cheaper, classier, cooler, or more environmentally friendly than their competitors. Whilst Werther’s Originals have certainly dominated the over 65s market, young people tend not to go near due to the stereotypical ‘old person’ associated with their branding.
Branding is not a new phenomenon; it began with the ancient Egyptians using a hot branding iron to mark cattle as their own. Thankfully, technology has evolved, and brands tend to just use stickers to mark something as theirs. In fact, thanks to companies like Tefal, Phillips, and Russell Hobbs we now have hot irons with brands on them. Revolutionary.
KEY POINTS:
• A successful brand communicates the qualities of a product or service to the consumer.
• A product’s design, logo, packaging, and advertising message are all coordinated to convey the brand’s message to the consumer.
• Brands are often among a company’s most important and valuable assets.
• Companies can protect their brands by registering trademarks to protect elements of their brands.
Types of Brands
The type of brand used depends on the entity using it. Below are some of the most common types of brands.
CORPORATE BRANDS
Corporate branding is probably the most well-known and also the first that people will name examples of brands from. Examples include Google, Starbucks, Nike, Apple etc.
Corporate branding is a way for companies to enhance their reputations and distinguish themselves from competitors in their industries. The company’s pricing, mission, and target market all reflect the corporate brand. The goal is to define their personalities, purpose, and values.
PERSONAL BRANDS
Unfortunately, a side effect of the invention of the internet is a lot of misplaced confidence. Everyone wants to be a celebrity or an influencer. Their financial success depends on their ability to create a brand that attracts an audience that certain advertisers want to reach. Personal brands are built through social media posts, sharing images and videos, conducting meet and greets, and having a unique personality that people either connect with, or a lifestyle people aspire to have.
PRODUCT BRANDS
Introducing a new product or supporting an existing product involves creating and maintaining its brand.
Companies might choose to create a master brand identity. The Virgin Group, founded by Richard Branson, includes hotels, telecommunications, and airlines, but all sub-brands carry the master brand identity.
How Branding Works
The goal of branding is to attract the right customers to an organisation and to be able to connect with individuals in a target group in some way. In order to achieve this, companies rely heavily on basic human psychology. Ultimately, branding aims to inspire an emotional reaction.
A good example is colour. People associate different colours and shades with feelings, moods, and general company vibes. Blue can be calming, red can be exciting, passionate, or dangerous depending on usage, purple can be luxurious, and black can be stable. 93% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on visuals alone, never neglect them.
Proprietary Eponyms or Brands Used As Verbs and Nouns When They’re Not
The kings of the hills are brands that have become so famous and so ubiquitous that people associate that product with the entire category or people associate that brand with the action. These words/brands are called proprietary eponyms.
They’re not actually Hoovers; they’re vacuum cleaners. It’s not a drink of Coca-Cola/Coke; the drink is cola. It’s not a Sharpie pen; it’s a permanent marker.
However, whilst this is great advertising for your brand, it comes with its own pitfalls. The degree of easy familiarity you brand might have attained could put it in jeopardy of losing its trademark.
“When something becomes so pervasive in everyday society as a result of its own fame, there’s an argument that it no longer represents the brand, it almost represents the action” said Michael N. Cohen, an intellectual property lawyer in LA. “So, as a result of that, in trademark law, you cannot trademark things that are descriptive or generic in nature”.
There are still plenty of brands who hold their generic name trademarks however, ‘Bubble Wrap’ is a trademark of Sealed Air, ‘Frisbee’ is a trademark of Wham-O, and ‘Velcro’ is trademarked by, well, Velcro.
Trademarking A Brand
By definition, a trademark is a recognisable insignia, phrase, word, or symbol that denotes a specific product and legally differentiates it from all others of its kind. A trademark exclusively identifies a product as belonging to a particular company and recognises the company’s ownership of the brand. Trademark are considered a form of intellectual property (another whole can of worms).
KEY POINTS:
• A trademark is an easily recognisable symbol, phrase, or word that denotes a specific product.
• It legally differentiates a product or service from all others of its kind and recognises the source company’s ownership of the brand.
• Trademarks may or may not be registered and are shown by the ® and ™ symbols respectively.
• Although trademarks do not expire, their owners must make regular use of them in order to receive the protections associated with them.
Trademarks can be brought, sold, and licensed. Licensing a trademark is an agreement made between companies for an agreed upon time or under certain conditions which can result in crossover brands.
Staking Your Claim
Whilst registering a trademark is a good idea for claiming sole ownership of a part of your branding, in the digital age things go further. Now it’s also a race of claiming handles and @s on social media platforms that work for your brand name.
As part of this you also want to consider your website domain name. Your domain name needs to match your business, but you might also want to consider buying multiple domain names to cover your brands own back.
There are lots of reasons to own more than one domain name. Businesses often buy misspellings of their names, for example, to capture those Web searchers who aren’t good spellers (or typists). Other reasons include preventing competitors from using a domain name that’s similar to yours to trick shoppers into buying from them rather than you.
If you’re looking to secure domain name(s) for yourself and your brand, we recommend Domain Dash where you can buy a .com domain name for just under £15 a year, as well as the option of bulk domain name registration.
The Benefit of Branding
Whether you are building a brand from scratch or revamping your current one, clearly defining your brand, purpose, and messaging is vital.
A good, strong brand identity will enhance consumers’ awareness of your company and can decide whether they purchase your goods and services or at least share your company with others. It will also help you build customer trust and loyalty. Customer loyalty to your brand is a great bonus as it helps with the process of introducing new products and services. Customers will stay loyal to brands they know and trust, so they are more likely to spend when new products are released even if they’re more expensive. Apple is great at this.
Remember though, your brand messaging can evolve. In some scenarios, revisiting your brand’s mission, tagline, and even the elements that make your company unique from your competitors is necessary to keep your brand from going stale.
Strong and clear branding helps internally too, you’ll be able to build marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience that surpass the generic approaches and create an authentic relationship with your customers. There’s nothing customers love more than authenticity.
KEY POINTS:
• Good branding sets your business apart from the competition.
• Good branding allows customers to recognise your business.
• Good branding expresses company values.
• Good branding enhances customer loyalty.
Maintaining A Defined Brand
Once you’ve defined your brand though your target audience, purpose, tone of voice, and personality it’s key you distribute this across all communication channels. Consistency, as always, is key.
KEY POINTS:
• Educate and train your employees on your brand’s values, purposes. And messaging guidelines.
• Listen to your employees and your customers and take their feedback into consideration.
• Be adaptable to market changes so your brand stays relevant but do so with purpose and intention.
• Resist the temptation to chase short-term trends that might not align with your brand identity.
• Pay attention to how your customers perceive your brand and make adjustments where necessary ‘read the room’.
• Monitor and protect your brand from inconsistent representation.
The Long Term
Brands can last a very long time, and many like to sound about the fact that they have. When a company’s brand and values are well aligned, the two can proceed together comfortably for many years. How consistently they do so will dictate how successful it sticks its company’s products and services in the minds of customers and build a long-term association and relationship with them.
A business might review and update its brand due to various circumstances, including but not limited to undergoing business growth or expansion, a change in target audience, a merger or acquisition, or if undergoing negative reputation challenges.
Certain external changes might occur meaning a rebrand is unavoidable, but the best rebrands are built on the existing identity of an organisation because the customers will have developed a connection with the company over time.
About us
We believe that powerful design and strong branding are the cornerstones of any successful business.
Our Design and Branding services are perfect for creating a cohesive and compelling brand identity that resonates with your audience and sets you apart from the competition.
From concept to execution, we ensure that every visual element reflects your brand’s essence and drives engagement.
We are not just a marketing agency; we are a full-stack marketing and creative powerhouse dedicated to transforming businesses and growing brands.
Based in the heart of the Midlands, our mission is to deliver innovative, end-to-end marketing solutions that drive growth, enhance visibility, and create meaningful connections between brands and their audiences.
Whether you’re looking for marketing expertise or have a specific project in mind, we’re here to assist.