Branding is product or corporate identity. It can be so effective that the name or image of a brand literally goes into the language. Good branding is the marketing equivalent of search engine optimization, making a product or business highly visible. If you think a little about the brands you know best, you’ll also recognize how effective branding is as a memory trigger.
The instant information you have about brands is a “recognition” mechanism, and it’s extremely important to businesses. The “recognition effect” is the core value of branding, and it’s as valuable as real money in terms of market reach.
Typical “instant recognition” brand images include:
- Coca Cola- The world’s most famous brand, instantly recognized all over the world.
- McDonalds- The Golden Arches of the big M are now universal.
- Kangaroos- The image of Australia
- The Apple logo
- Kellogg
As you can see, these brands are so recognizable that they also attract instant attention. This is actually just part of the branding process.
The results of effective branding are:
- Knowing the brand means that consumers are more likely to pay attention to it when a new product or service is released.
- Brands usually attract repeat business.
- Brands give distributors, retailers, and service providers customers. If the local shop advertises Coca Cola, it’s a selling point for the business.
Brand mechanisms
Brands are designed to be conspicuous. The mechanics of brand design are very straightforward, but they often produce some great design concepts. The consumer brands typically use contrast, shape and colours to be as visible as possible.
Brand designs are supposed to be as unique and individual as possible. If you have a look a the major brands in particular, you’ll notice that the brand images and logos are quite unmistakable, and couldn’t possibly be confused with any other brand.
The brand designs are market researched to get consumer responses. In most cases several alternate designs are compared and the preferred designs are chosen for the public image icon. This is very much part of brand creation, and is often the basis for total redesign of brand imagery and in some cases even the products themselves.
Branding is market identity
The brand, when it comes on the market, is the impact point of the product image. It’s important to recognize that market perception of the brand governs its performance. Brands are supported by promotions, but the brand identity is the functional image of the product, service or company. Many consumer brands, in fact, are entirely dependent on branding to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They’re often very similar products, and the only functional difference to the market is the branding.
So, branding really is everything to any product. It creates an identity, a name, and an image. This really is “SEO for consumers”, and brand names are among the most searched names online. The ad images are also the recognition points in online advertising.
The keys to a good brand are:
- Individuality
- Strong visual presence
- Recognition factors
- Design values and attractiveness
Brands are literally the imagery of modern society, in phones, computers and most forms of technology. There really is no “Brand X”, for those reasons.
Guest post by James Fielding, a branding and brand management expert.
April 27th, 2011 at 5:51 am
Would like to of seen more information about link baiting, ie creating applications and / or actually writing articles of interest that often result in natural link building as opposed to manipulating your competitor’s.
April 27th, 2011 at 9:17 am
Brands are never so easy to create you need to put quality above the line all the time. That's how you can start getting recognition from people.
April 27th, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Strong visual presence seems to be the most vital key to a successful brand, also the appeal of the brand name, as most strong and famous brands have been used by people as a verb or a common noun (like Google is to search and Coke is to soda).
April 28th, 2011 at 12:40 am
Brand is very important for the every products.A strong brand identity can position a company above its competition all by itself.
April 28th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Thanks for an interesting article. I know there are certain brands that I always look for.
April 29th, 2011 at 3:56 am
It is also possible to add Marlboro to this list, this is a very well known brand.
April 29th, 2011 at 7:20 am
Seems like a lot of businesses are turning to social media to create brand awareness and brand recognition. My question is, how much are people on facebook and twitter, etc… really paying attention to businesses on there? Seems like most people only want to communicate with friends and family.
April 29th, 2011 at 9:29 am
I completely agree with your statements about branding. Brand history and brand exclusivity can make a jacket usually sold for $30 salable for $200 with the correct branding.
April 29th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Yes I agree with what you want to convey in this blog, i.e., start a business with a good quality brand. The one that easily get attention for the clients. This post is very well written and comprehensible to a reader like me. =)
May 1st, 2011 at 12:14 am
A good article but having also studies branding (via marketing courses) I am a little surprised that this article focus essentially on the LOGO, and not the psychology behind why we like a product (or brand). And I actually think that a good brand is probably as far removed form seo as is possible. SEO is about the technology of making the right metadata, research of keywords and getting stacks of backlinks (process). You can have the words worst image and logo, but still drive people to your site, sure you may not convert anyone (unless your logo and other things on your site are right, but that has nothing to do with seo.
Brand is artistic and often requires market research to ensure people like it. SEO is driving traffic. I may be wrong … but thats my two cents worth…
May 1st, 2011 at 4:43 am
It was not just that you have to make a Brand out of you. Having a Brand takes time and you must have long perseverance, remember it was very fruitful when you take patience at all.
May 2nd, 2011 at 1:50 am
To create a brand it requires tones of cash because in my opinion you need a lot of publicity for that and that costs in our days.
May 2nd, 2011 at 1:52 am
The idea that you have when you initiate a business for me is everything. If the idea is great you will have a great success, but that is just my opinion.
May 2nd, 2011 at 8:13 am
Very impressive. I agree. "Brands" are designed to be conspicuous. Thanks for the share. Keep it up. Enjoyed the read.
May 2nd, 2011 at 8:13 am
Very Good Post..
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:41 am
great post, your brand is much more important than most new starters think, there should be put alot of time and thoughts into choosing your brand..
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Creating a brand is very hard work, and will take a lot of time which most online marketers don't like. But if you can do it, it can be very profitable.
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:06 am
very interesting article. . . brain is big think. . .
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:24 am
It’s like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about design and quality link, like you wrote the book in it or something.
May 4th, 2011 at 3:02 am
Very interesting post, i realy like how you explain things like this, simple and clear!
May 4th, 2011 at 8:08 am
Recognition factor is very important, a good brand has to be recognized from thousands of similar.
May 4th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Thanks for an interesting post.
May 5th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Many people take branding too lightly and just go with the first thing that pops into their head. It should be something that you think long and hard about, something that stands out and is catchy.
May 8th, 2011 at 8:50 am
It's all about branding. And the masters at branding are the companies and political groups who are the most successful. It has nothing to do with truth and everything to do with noise
May 8th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Yeah I am agree with you Couponseasy that it is not easy job to get Brand Name recognition.
May 9th, 2011 at 2:51 am
@ "brand names are among the most searched names online"
after I read this I went to the google keyword tool and searched for some brand names. Wow, shocking results… you are totally right.
Thanks for the post… found it useful
May 9th, 2011 at 5:12 am
Brand needs quality. the problem is that sometimes, products of famous brands disappoint and then comes the question :"Isn't brand a way to sell much more expensive and offer a low quality?"
May 9th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
I find branding very hard to do in the internet marketing world. Still trying to figure out who I want to be.
May 10th, 2011 at 2:22 am
Brand is the real power in business. It is very difficult to compete the running brand.
May 11th, 2011 at 1:39 am
Branding is a time consuming process that takes a lot of resources of the company on so many levels. Customer support is branding if the brand claims to have the best support for its products. You can't just say you're the best in the market because consumers are very upset by companies whose branding is too far from what the word of mouth says.
May 11th, 2011 at 3:31 am
Branding and Brands, the all important aspects of business..
May 11th, 2011 at 4:02 am
Before launching any products to be its marketing is very important. Today many brands are very famous and its because of their brand name and quality of brand.
May 11th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
To find a name that everyone can enjoy and remember to have it stuck in their heads is something that takes time and patience. Sometimes people creates brands out of thin air but some others take years to just find the name.
May 12th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Brands are easy to create but not Brand name… needs tonnes of effort and plaaning
Great share
May 13th, 2011 at 12:25 am
Branding is one thing that needs a lot of planning and proper implementation.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:36 am
brands? ppfftt
May 13th, 2011 at 11:04 pm
Brand name are also not easy to create, band name value will increase only by the quality of the product.
May 14th, 2011 at 3:05 am
I couldn't agree more. A brand gives you the authority, your identity, the business itself. People fail to successfully make money online because they forget to consider the importance of creating their brands.
Eric
May 15th, 2011 at 1:40 am
i am still not sure for the average company how much they can do to make their brand stand out. Though this is a very good article about the majors.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Good idea to learn from the majors. Why not replicated it with a purely online product?!
May 16th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
good note ! i agree with this sentence "Branding is marketing identity" but all things are depend on how and where to promote your brand.
May 17th, 2011 at 10:53 am
That's a pretty good post on branding and it's impact on seo, but I think there is one – quite important – information missing, ai that great brands have (and should) always have to key components: Competence and Emotion, in order to be trusted and recognized.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:24 am
Kangaroos is an interesting inclusion in your list of heavyweight brands! I would be interested to know how quickly the best brands become so integrated in our daily lives as it can be a long and tiring process getting the name out there and patience can wear thin. Is ti best to drown the world in your brand and image and risk resentment or build up slowly and solidly?
May 19th, 2011 at 4:13 am
well hero honda is spending 200 crore for rebranding its image ..this shows brand power
May 19th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Choosing a brand is very critical upon buying because in a certain brand you will identify the quality of the products or things that you are going to purchase. I go for good and quality brands though cost high compared to lower class.
May 20th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
The marks one of the essentials for a company, is through it that is different from the others so it is very important to be visually appealing.
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:51 am
I think if someone is serious about business, he OR she better start building their brands. If you want to build your brand then you need 2 things:
1- Provide high value to your customers.
2- Step out of the crowd and do something never done before.
Thanks for sharing
May 23rd, 2011 at 2:13 am
I think brands are the backbone to all marketing activities. It is the same as your brand is your name. anything you do will be associated with your name.
May 23rd, 2011 at 10:38 am
You need to be very careful and analyze your company's brand before it's out in the market for this is crucial because this is your identity for a lifeme.
May 25th, 2011 at 1:26 am
The company's brand is the most important visual associative tool, for this tool helps the customer's identify the products or service and single it out from tons of competitors. Attractive brand is what most of the people remember, so it is important to create an image most people can identify with.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:50 am
it is very nice post…
May 25th, 2011 at 7:45 am
Yes, creating a brand does require time but a lot of things can be done with great (should I say viral) idea, that will spread itself around. Once you get people's attention, you start creating brand
May 25th, 2011 at 7:55 am
The brand recognition is due to two factors: the logo should be simple and the name must be short and easy to remember; Subsequently enterprises are of beatings with both factors.
May 25th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Building a firm presence for a brand online is very much different from creating the brand itself. Oftentimes, branding is one of the marketing facets that gets ignored – in the launch of new companies. Having a branding specialist on staff can be a very useful thing in the first year of any new business – especially online. I look forward to networking with you in the near future Ryan. Thanks for the information.
May 25th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Nice post on branding. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a widely recognized brand, but with some continued work you can get there.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
To increase publicity or to create a brand one has to be with a lot of capital with him..So everything you need in a brand is thus like hiked prices and all.
May 26th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
This article is very enlightening! I have to say that Branding is a great help for any business.
Thanks for sharing.
May 27th, 2011 at 6:24 am
great identity strategy article, I think your article is enough for nee commers
May 28th, 2011 at 1:00 am
Really brand is a valuable and it is like search engine optimization because after making good brand company your product will be more valuable and automatically people prefer your product.
May 28th, 2011 at 8:18 am
I, too, find "Branding" and "Logos" to be key to the first part of a business's success. If you're name is hard to remember, and your logo is not recognizable or unique, you're just not going to do well. I can name a few companies, like HostGator, who have excellent branding.
May 30th, 2011 at 3:17 am
Brand is very important for any product .The strong will be the brand strong will be the faith of customer on the company .
May 30th, 2011 at 4:51 am
# Brands enable customers to remember your product-service.
# Brands build customer loyalty and lead to repeat purchases.
# Brands make it easier for current clients or customers to refer you to others.
# Brands send a message as to what your customers can expect.
Thanks for sharing such a great article about branding
June 1st, 2011 at 2:24 am
Yeah branding is an important marketing function. In my point of view branding involves making of a trademark and a good name. One of the express brand name online is google.
Thanks for posting..
June 1st, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Branding is important in any kind of business. If you want to make your business grow and productive, then you will create innovative ideas that will boost your business productivity. One way of it is "branding". When you want to make brand of your business, I suggest that it will best describe your business, not only on its physical appearance to the people but also it describes the inner soul of your business. Good branding are remembered by the people not only for its unique identity or design but also it was remembered through the quality of service it provides to the people. Thank you for your good post. I found your article very informative one. Strive more for the best of you and keep up your good work!
June 1st, 2011 at 11:01 pm
well kindly brand name recognition.
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:35 am
great post, your brand is much more important than most new starters think
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:37 am
well this brand is a better quality then others as i seen them and all people have good point it.
June 3rd, 2011 at 5:37 pm
great post, your brand is much more important than most new starters think
June 6th, 2011 at 7:48 am
First you work for the brand, and if you do everything right, than the brand starts to work for you.
June 7th, 2011 at 12:34 am
With branding for business, it is very essential. This gives a potential to a business. Greater chance of market absorption will be given to a company if the branding fits and is catchy. What gives a company a good branding is when it has a great logo, good tagline and a quality products or services.
June 9th, 2011 at 1:33 am
Yes, i notice that brand images and logos are unique. It is especially designed and i like the tagline of brand.
June 10th, 2011 at 1:28 am
Very impressive. I agree. "Brands" are designed to be conspicuous. Thanks for the share. Keep it up. Enjoyed the read.
June 15th, 2011 at 6:39 am
brand name recognition! band-aids! javex! saran wrap! this list goes on.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Good post, new look and many important things about branding. thanks
June 18th, 2011 at 6:42 am
Good article. Branding is much more that this, but it's a good start.
June 20th, 2011 at 12:24 am
branding with proper strategy with steady follow up plans thats all you need you dont over work but you do work extensively
June 20th, 2011 at 4:53 am
Branding of a product is one of the best way to increase its overall Goodwill which helps to increase it sale. When it comes to branding I always remember Apple products, they are excellent to maintain their brand value.
June 21st, 2011 at 6:59 am
"Brand" means the Quality. Depending on the quality, branding can be categorized. Thanks for the good article. Thanks.
June 21st, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Very impressive article
June 28th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Branding can make or break companies. Its how you put yourself out there, its who you are. Great post.
July 7th, 2011 at 2:35 am
Branding is not only about the identity of a company. It is also became an identity of the users. Branded products are the customers parameter to categorize based on their status of society. Your simple quality product turns into a more valuable and gains elegance by simply branding it.
July 21st, 2011 at 2:47 am
Well I only need to say a big hit of this blog. Branding is only required by the large size companies because small scale companies don't afford it. Got ya..??
July 23rd, 2011 at 11:15 am
What makes u such a nice a passionate blogger!! Understanding a brand is never easy, especially in today's age of advertising. A nice attempt to help naive people like me understand a brand.
July 27th, 2011 at 12:28 am
Really great article. Keeo up good work. Did U read 'Logo design love'?
July 27th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
If you get brand recognition the rest is easy my father have an establish brand of natural products and each time hi change the product but due to the brand recognition he still selling with each change.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
nice article and share, so petrified for my business and open my mind ..
August 26th, 2011 at 7:46 am
Branding is EVERYTHING. I got a website with a "brand-name", and when I first started I didn't gave this any though, but I can gaurentee you that I am now! When I started branding my name, I suddenly got more attention from users of the internet. It is great to brand your name!
September 6th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
That’s the point! I started to scan keyword tools for long tails, got lower clicks but higher CR !
September 18th, 2011 at 11:14 am
all famous brand starts from nothing or no relevance. think of it, apple, google, yahoo, facebook. if we just think of the word itself, theres no sense in it. branding is more than just the name, its the effort you exert,hardword, how you will make it to the top. and once it reaches it then its smooth sailing