subject: Why ‘Real Branding' beats design and marketing alone every single time [print this page] Why Real Branding' beats design and marketing alone every single time
Branding, Real Branding' is a discipline based entirely in the concept of creating more profit. If anyone ever talks to you about branding and doesn't mention that word then chances are they know very little about branding. Think about it, branding was invented by cowboys who wanted a bit more money. So rather than leave their cows to grow fat in a cow shed eating rubbish, they spent time taking them out to the fields everyday, feeding them the best food they could get their hands on, making sure they were as lean as possible. And when they took them to market they wanted to make damn sure that differentiation wasn't lost on their market. So they popped a logo on them so that their customers could identify them.
That principle still stands true today but branding is still the most misunderstood concept in marketing and is so often badly applied. Why? Probably because it's not taught very well (if at all) it's difficult and because most people mistake brand awareness for Real branding'. This is often because big brands with huge budgets often get it so wrong.
Think about it, if I gave you a budget of 10 million how difficult would it be to make sure that most people in the country had heard of your brand? Easy peasy.
But how difficult would it be to get them to see you as the only solution to their problem, for them to store your message, to buy from you in the future if they don't have a need right now, to not need further convincing in any other form of marketing that you are the only solution for them and for them to pass your message on to others so they will buy too? Very difficult - but this is what you should be trying to do because it will make you more profit.
This is even more so if you have a small budget as you have a lot less opportunities to tell people about why they should choose you. Your message has to be really good, delivered in a crystal clear way. The big brands probably got it right somewhere along the way but don't be inclined to follow many of them now their net profit % will often expose weak and thinly constructed brands that over time have become reliant on awareness and cash hordes from bygone greatness to get by.
You can forget about using price as a differentiator too. If all you do is say you're cheaper then you're providing no compelling reason to choose you over anyone else and are effectively saying price is the only reason to buy from us, so if you can find it cheaper then don't bother'.
Branding should be at the forefront of both your marketing strategy and your sales strategy. A Real branding approach forces you to consider how your actions influence your profit, how you can achieve more from spending the same or less, how you can become a natural choice for your market when they have a need and how you can get people to pass on your messages, effectively creating your own free sales force. It also forces you to look beyond price as a differentiator and to articulate yourself brilliantly well. And what will you get if you do this well and construct a Real brand which compels people to act and lives in the hearts and minds of its customers? Exactly what they cowboys got. More profit.
