Why is branding so important?

It’s more than just

Branding is important because it is this that forms the basis of what your customers expect from your business. It is what makes a memorable, and hopefully positive, impression on your customers.

The question, ‘What is a brand?’ does not have a simple answer, but we think Jonah Sachs put it well when he said, “Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points”.

Now, this may sound a bit like ‘marketing talk’, but, actually, it is right. You can’t possibly put the definition of a brand down to the visual identity because perception builds brand, and perception comes from the experience you get from dealing with the company. Expectations of businesses are set quickly by consumers.

Let’s look at an example: If you buy some groceries from a high-end supermarket and you get home to find that something is out of date, or worse, mouldy, the chances are, the first thing that will go through your mind is that you wouldn’t have expected that from such a high-end supermarket! This expectation is driven by branding. They have positioned their brand at the top of the market and now you come to expect a certain level of quality, understandably! This is not just down to their visual identity, but the perceptions that have been built.

There are many areas of a business used to develop a brand including advertising, customer service, social responsibility, reputation, and visual identity. All these elements (and many more) work together to create one unique and (hopefully) attention-grabbing profile, or brand.

So why is branding important? Well, a brand builds a reputation, whether that reputation is managed or not. If you do not take control of the branding of your business, you risk losing control of your business’ reputation which can be hugely damaging. Therefore, it is important to consider your brand right from the start. Here are four reasons we see branding as being important to any business:

A good brand adds value:

Having a strong brand will add value to your business by giving the company more leverage within the industry. A strong reputation means a strong brand which translates into value. This makes it a more appealing investment because of its firm position within the marketplace.

Branding helps to generate new customers:

Strong branding generally means there is a positive impression of the company amongst its consumers. As a result, they will be more likely to do business with you because of the familiarity and assumed dependability of using a name they trust. Word of mouth soon becomes the most effective form of advertising for well established brands.

A strong brand gives employees a better sense of satisfaction:

When an employee works for a strongly branded company and truly stands behind the brand, they are generally more satisfied with their job and have a higher degree of pride in the work that they do. Working for a brand that is held in high regard amongst the public makes working for that company more fulfilling. Take Google for example, it is well known that the Google offices offer the employees fantastic office space with break out rooms, slides, gaming rooms, collaborative space, and free meals. This reputation adds to the Google brand and Google staff (seemingly) enjoy working for such a highly regarding brand.

It gives you a visual identity:

As mentioned above, the visual elements of your brand are an important aspect of your branding. It makes your company recognisable to your consumers. From logo design to colours and fonts, the visual elements of your brand should be well thought through and considered.

Above highlights just some of the reasons building a brand is important, there are very many more benefits to ensuring your brand is as strong as possible. Your brand, put very simply, is the way your customers perceive you. There are many touchpoints during which this perception to be influenced, and all those touchpoints add to the perception of your brand.

If you would like help creating the visual element of your brand, please get in touch. We can help create a strong and impactful visual identity that can start you off on the right foot to building a strong and robust brand for your business.