By Robert Hall

Whether launching a new business, product or service or revitalizing an existing one, branding and identity has to be an intrinsic part of your business plan. An investment in branding and corporate identity contributes to better customer recognition, more sales and increased profitability for companies. Use of effective identity and branding strategy can be a powerful enduring marketing tool both for small and large companies. They are essential in standing out in an increasingly crowded and competitive market. Proper implementation and deployment of these can powerfully impact the strategic advantage of a company. A dynamic brand that is flexible enough to display products and services in different applications delivers a strong brand identity capable of serving as the backbone of successful marketing campaigns. A branding consultant who understands your business objectives and identifies your strategic target markets is one able to deliver a powerful corporate identity brand for your business. The corporate identity business is a invaluable service for the discerning customer.

With a trademark that can be dated back to 1731 as the bricks of Antiche Fornaci Giorgi illustrates by example, a corporate brand can be a mark that lasts generations. The distinctive brand of Lyles Golden Syrup named the oldest brand in Britain since 1885 has been almost unchanged through the years. This mark, and the one that Bass Brewery claims is the worlds first brand, demonstrate the lasting presence of successful branding in the United Kingdom. These early branded products illustrate this facility was utilized long before the age of mass marketing to increase the consumer familiarity with identifiable products. The United Kingdom has thus been a market for brand identification that goes back centuries. Today, every company, whether of medium size, large or small, needs to have a brand marketing strategy, be it a corporate branding or subranding strategy or a combination thereof. Developing a strong image helps customers build a perception of your product or service.

The use of a logo, which is one type of a trademark that symbolizes a brand, can be an effective tool for distinguishing the company and its product from its competitors in the marketplace. The use of trademarks makes it easier for consumers who have led time on their hands to make choices to identify with the brand. Consumers can rely on this symbolic representation that distinguishes between different companies and company products from others. The rise of brand valuation is a development that reflects the importance of brand management today.

Corporate identity is not the same as brand identity which is not the same as brand image. When looking to commence your branding project, this should be kept in mind. The visual image associated with company presence is its corporate identity. The core brand value of a company will not change with any visual identity changes.

The brand value is embedded in the personality of the brand or what it stands for. Visual changes do not change brand image which is something intrinsic and more comprehensive. Graphic and design changes do not always change consumer perceptions of quality, service, and the intangible associated values people associate with the brand name. The standing of the brand can be altered with corporate identity changes accompanied by widespread changes in organizational cultural presentation, product quality and or service standards. Consumers who experience an improved or different experience from these changes, can over the long term have a positive or different impression of the brand image. Brand identity is the totality of the promise the a company makes to consumers. This can mean the values that the brand possesses, its features, benefits, performance, quality and support services. Brand identity is the totality of what the company wants the brand to be seen to be. Brand image, on the other hand, is the totality of consumer perceptions of the brand, which may or may not coincide with brand identity. In the marketplace this perception has great importance.

The overall business strategy of the company that drives its brand creation determiners the implementation of the brand and its management over the duration. Brand experience is the totality of the branding and identity implemented in the different ways it is used by the company to market itself and its products and services. Branding and identity gives the brand positioning in the market. A successful brand is one that is synonymous with all the qualities a company wishes to project.

About the Author:

Leave a Reply

Accessories

Followers

Twitter Feeds

    Archives