Outsiders and newbies to the world of online and offline marketing are fond of hearing the word “brand.” Without knowing what it truly means for businesses and their identities, people understand “brand” as a business and its name, slogan, and logo. To the regular consumer, a brand is a business’ name written on its products. It is the first thing they look at whenever looking for certain products or services. They identify products by their labels.
What is a brand?
According to author, entrepreneur, and founder of Squidoo and Yoyoydyne, Seth Godin, the true meaning of “brand” is the set of expectations, memories, and relationships that account for a consumer’s decision to pick your product over another. Godin wrote that your brand should be able to tell a story, ignite emotions, meet expectations, and give the consumer insight into what your business does.
A brand, to put it simply, is the experience you create and provide the customer with. It is composed of the emotional, visual, intellectual, and tangible experience a customer goes through when engaging with your business.
How do businesses create customer experience?
Businesses do not get to interact with consumers face to face to promote their products and services. Instead, they must rely on branding as the first point of interaction they can have with potential and current customers.
1. Planning
All business strategies start with planning. Businesses brainstorm a brand message targeted to their desired consumer base. The best way businesses do this is by reviewing their competitors’ strong and weak points. Businesses use this as a basis to gain ideas on how they will be able to make their product and service offers stand out.
2. Rewarding Loyal Customers
Once a business gains momentum in building trust with its consumer base, it begins to become personal and appreciative when it comes to communicating with its customers. Rewarding customers is a good way to make them feel cared for because they are the brand ambassadors, promoting and purchasing what businesses have to offer.
Businesses do this by implementing direct and personal messaging, featuring customer reviews, and taking notice of social media posts and special product promotions, among others.
3. Being Consistent
Consistency gives businesses an identity that makes customers gain familiarity with what they have to offer. Strong brand consistency sets businesses apart from each other and helps them grow in value. An example is the American multinational corporation Nike and its logo. The “Nike swoosh” logo is so easily recognizable that customers do not have to look for the brand name to identify it. One look at the swoosh logo and customers know that they can trust that brand, which is reputable for footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The logo was first used in 1972, eight years after Nike had been founded. Since then, the corporation has been using the same logo with little to no modifications.
4. Being Creative
Keeping a customer’s attention secured to your products and services is not an easy task, especially in a sea of competition. A business’ way to make its offers stand out is to draw clients in through eye-catching marketing and product labels. Businesses etch their brand names on their products using labeling equipment such as a hot foil stamping machine to label their products. Doing this does not only make their offers stand out, but it also acts as an anti-counterfeiting method.
Creativity should also extend to how you market what you sell. Making customers feel like they can also stand out by choosing a specific business increases visibility for that business’ brand.
5. Being Authentic
Forbes magazine contributor Karl Moore wrote in his piece about millennials’ liking toward authenticity that generations today, specifically baby boomers, Generation X, and millennials, perceive authenticity differently due to differences in upbringing. The most critical ones, the millennials, are the future. Curating your branding efforts toward serving their thirst for authenticity will make them appreciate you.
The same goes for how these people consume products and services. They chose to engage with businesses that appeal to their emotions and what they believe. They look for products that make them feel understood. Building a brand around a consumer’s way of thinking is a good way to brand authenticity that will attract consumers.
Businesses strategize ways to increase business value. What could be a better way to do so than to attract and keep customers? Businesses understand the importance of what people have to offer. In exchange for the experience, consumers give businesses profit, identity, and ideas.