What is the meaning of a Brand?

A brand is a customer's gut feeling about the product, service, or organization - Marty Neumeier from The Brand Gap.

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A brand is NOT:

Just your Logo

Just your packaging

Just your Product

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It simply is a customer's perception of your product, service, or organization. A brand is how they feel and think about you. It's an emotional game. It's an idea or a promise made to its target audience. A brand is the result of Branding which means that it's an ongoing process of using a variety of strategies and techniques. 

It helps to build trust and a strong connection between you and your target audience. That's why we often buy products from the brands we connect with. Consumers want comfort, happiness, and satisfaction in their lives, and they get it in part through the products they buy. If the brands they use consistently deliver a positive experience, consumers form an opinion that the brand is trustworthy, which gives them peace of mind when buying.

What is Branding?

So, now let's discuss what Branding is and why it matters. 

Branding has been around since 350 A.D. and is derived from the word 'Brandr', meaning to burn in the Ancient Norse language. By the 1500s, it had come to mean the mark that ranchers burned on cattle to signify ownership - a precursor of the modern logo.

Yet branding today is much more than just a look or a logo. It has come to signify the emotional "gut feeling" reaction a company can elicit from its customers.

It is a big world. Any actions you take to shape your brand is considered branding. It can include various elements like: 

• Brand Strategy
• Brand Identity
• Creative Direction
• Voice and visuals
• Brand Positioning, etc.

Let's assume you designed a logo for your business, it will help the consumers to identify you as a brand. Sometimes, we don't remember the name of the brand but we do remember their logos. Because 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than other boring texts. So, your logo becomes a part of branding because it helps the consumer connect with your brand.

You developed a brand voice - that's part of branding. You get together with your marketing team to brainstorm an ad campaign - that's part of branding.

Why Branding is important:

• Branding is important because it sets you apart from your competition and gives your customer a reason to buy from you. Consistent, strategic branding leads to strong brand equity. Your branding tells your story and why you are in business. 
• It can transform first-time buyers into lifetime customers. 
• With good branding, you can give your brand a more human side, which your customers can relate to more than a company that's strictly all business. In many ways, you can appeal to people's emotions through branding and make them feel more connected to your company.

What is Brand Identity?

Brand identity is the face of your brand. A Brand is an emotional concept while brand identity is the visual component of a brand that represents those ideas. Branding is emotional whereas identity is visual. It helps the consumers to identify you as a brand. The process of creating a brand identity is called brand identity design. 

How to build a strong Brand Identity System?

Being distinctive and consistent is what makes your brand identity stronger. It will help you to be and look different and it will become easier for the customer to pick you out from the crowd. Read our article 12 Steps to a Strong Brand Identity. Be consistent with what you create for your brand, it should be professionally designed and should work for your brand.