The Big Misconception Between Brand and Branding
The Big Misconception Between Brand and Branding
Many people still don’t know exactly what brand and branding are, and can’t even identify the differences between them, although they are the base in the business and marketing world.
Everyone Talks About Their Brands, But What is A Brand Actually?
A brand is how a product, service, company, or individual is recognized and distinguished by the audience, or by those who experience it. It’s the mark that sets what others say about you in your absence and what people feel about your business.
It is mainly focused on building an emotional relationship and association with the audience, as it builds customer loyalty and gives businesses a recognized mark in a cluttered market.
A brand is derived from the organization itself, as it involves the company’s goals, vision, mission, and history, which is easily communicated and marketed. A strong brand attracts more customers, increases the chances of customers choosing your product or service over the competitors, achieves a sustainable competitive advantage, and drives measurable return on investment (ROI).
Your brand is simply you.
Now Most Importantly, What is Branding?
Branding is the procedure of giving a product, service, company, or individual the look and the power of a brand to be known to the public, be memorable and recognizable visually and be differentiated from the competitors around. It is a set of actions that include designing, preserving, and strengthening a brand, and a set of features that allow the organization to build its brand, and allow the audience to create an emotional relationship with it. When talking about branding it is important to keep in mind that it is a marketing and communication tool that summarizes what the brand is about, and is used to affect the way people grasp and react to the brand, thus impacting their buying decisions.
Any action you take from designing a logo to choosing a color palette, to much more will shape your brand and reveal its outer appearance. For example, as we all know, Starbucks has a unique visual identity that keeps it recognizable; so we can immediately recognize a Starbucks product by just seeing the logo or by noticing the colors.
Why is Branding Important for Your business?
Branding is the face of the organization that plays a vital role in every business, especially with the rise of social media and e-commerce businesses. Therefore, watch out to always build the right branding strategy, as below are a few points that discuss how branding is essential for businesses:
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Build Brand Recognition: Branding allows businesses to become recognizable to the audience through designs, logos, and other brand assets, and create a style for the brand in the market.
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Communicate Brand Value: Branding allows businesses to convey the purpose and value of the organization, product, or service to the audience.
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Stand Out From The Competitors: Branding allows businesses to differentiate themselves, and create a memorable image to encourage the audience to stick to their brand.
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Achieve Brand Experience: Branding allows businesses to manage how the audience acknowledges and experiences the brand in a consistent manner.
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Create Brand Loyalty: Branding allows businesses to create an emotional connection with their audience to encourage them to become loyal customers and brand enthusiasts.
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Support Marketing Strategy: Branding allows businesses to build successful marketing plans, and increase exposure, engagement, sales, and sign-ups.
Here Comes The Boom: Brand vs. Branding
Walking into 2022, everyone still gets confused between brand and branding, thinking that it is the same concept. So, Clicklers are here to simplify the differences between the two.
It is significant to understand that brand is the perception that the audience creates about your organization, but branding is the bunch of actions that the organization takes to nurture that brand. So, a brand is considered a valuable asset, and everything internal that organizations own, and branding are the steps that the organization does in order to create a well-valued brand. Therefore, maintaining a brand is where you want to mark yourself in your customer’s hearts and minds, and branding is the process of keeping that position secure.
A brand includes the following fundamental elements:
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Brand Definition: is the description of what the business is and what it does.
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Brand Values: are a set of guiding principles that businesses follow when it comes to behaviors, actions, and decision-making.
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Brand Voice: is the consistent personality and messaging that brands use to communicate with the audience and be present to the world.
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Brand Personality: is how your brand would look if it were a person. So, it is the unique range of behaviors and characteristics of a brand.
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Brand Promise: is the experience or even value that the audience expects to come by when they interact with the brand. It can be expressed in messaging, taglines, or ads.
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Brand Identity: are the visible elements that include the company’s color palette, logo, fonts, design, etc.
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Brand Positioning: is where the brand stands in the market among the competition.
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Brand Targeting: is identifying the right audience segment within a market that the business wants to reach and connect with.
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Brand Experience: is the way in which the audience interacts with what the brand has to offer depending on the process, quality, and performance of the offerings.
While branding includes these important elements:
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Logo
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Logo Variations and Elements
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Shapes
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Templates
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Typography
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Color Palette
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Patterns and Frames
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Website Design
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Profile Pictures
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Thumbnails
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Lower Third
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Marketing Collateral (Stationary)
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Visual Style (Photography and Video)
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Social Media Banners and Covers
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Keep in mind that through a clever branding strategy, you can make a great impact and take your business to the next level.
Published on 2022-06-02
by Aya