Why branding is so important to a business?
The brand image, what does it bring to the company? Have you ever noticed that some brand images are getting our attention?
The brand image and its definition,
Brand image is the representation of a company (or organization, institution) perceived by the consumer. The term "branding" is also used to describe the brand image. The messages related to the brand are conveyed via the Internet, the media, print.
The representations conveyed are essentially "mental". The spread of the message built and addressed to a targeted audience is likely to generate an exchange, a reasoning and thus to influence the public.
The brand image is:
Wanted by the company,
The company sets goals, intentions and values that it wishes to convey to the public.
Perceived by the public,
The branding corresponds to existing representations at a given moment in the target population.
What are the differences between branding, reputation and notoriety?
The terms "brand image", "reputation", "notoriety" have very different meanings, while being complementary:
It results from the characteristics of the product or the brand concerned and is influenced by extensive advertising. When the perception of the image of the product is positive, it promotes the marketing of the product and therefore argues the practice of high prices. To influence the consumer, the company must know its mental behavior because each individual has a brand image of its own.
The notion of brand image occurs when the individual wants to use this brand image to meet a need and / or to stand out according to its social role. The brand image provokes in the individual an attitude that can be positive because he likes or can be negative because he does not like. Source: Wikipedia
REPUTATION IS THE IMAGE PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC.
Reputation is the way in which something or someone is known and considered in an audience, feeling a favorable or unfavorable opinion. It stems from the interpretation of the signs, the message that the individual has received.
The brand becomes the receptacle of the projected reputation. One of the main objectives of a company is to control its brand image and to ensure a coherence between the true image, the desired image and the perceived image.
NOTORIETY IS THE RESULT OF PROJECTION AND WHAT THE PUBLIC SAYS.
This is the character of what is known and known to a large number of people. Awareness is the measure of the degree of presence of a brand in the minds of individuals. This is the public's knowledge of a brand. The reputation of a brand on the web becomes its level of visibility, as on social networks, on search engines with the referencing of the website, the blog.
And branding and marketing?
Reminder of the importance of marketing,
Marketing makes it possible to analyze the needs of consumers and all the means of action used by companies (or agencies or organizations) to influence consumer behavior. Marketing creates the perceived value of the customer and adapts the commercial offer and the product of the company to the desires of the consumers. For the brand image to please, one (or more) marketing action (s) is (are) essential.
The importance of marketing for branding,
When the perception of the image of the brand is positive it promotes marketing. Marketing helps to ensure that the brand image appeals, to target the targeted audience and to deploy a branding campaign bringing personality to this brand. It is this personality that the public will perceive by decoding the specific signs of the brand.
In addition to the buying process (triggered by the highlighting of a need created by the brand image), marketing defines according to the reactions of individuals, the why and their actions. The most well-known need classification is that of Abraham Maslow, who distinguishes 5 categories of needs influencing the behavior of the individual:
How to design a brand image?
How to build a strong brand image?
Each company tries to reproduce the brand concept by dreaming of being as easily identifiable as the brands Apple, Adidas, Lego, CocaCola, .... Branded images of all kinds of activities known throughout the world and of all audiences. The brand image can be built in 3 points:
1 - THE REFLECTION | KNOW YOUR BRAND,
The company must ensure that its brand image is consistent and reflects its identity. Creating a brand is a way for a business to ensure its popularity and customer loyalty.
2 - CREATE THE MESSAGE THAT THE BRAND IMAGE WILL VEHICULATE,
The company must ensure that the message it conveys through its brand image expresses to the public what it wants. Some questions advance this reflection:
What branding can and can bring to your market?
How should the brand image be perceived by the customer, in relation to the wish of the company?
How will the message and values be delivered to customers?
3 - DEFINE COHERENT DESIGN AND CONTENT FOR ITS BRAND IMAGE,
It is essential for a company to:
Implement the message defined through the name and slogan of the company.
Define a visual identity in accordance with its message and brand image.
Defining a graphic charter.
How to develop your brand?
The best way to develop your brand image and disseminate it and communicate on it through all possible channels:
An Internet site,
A blog,
Social networks,
Marketing tools,
The print (business cards, flyers, commercial brochure ...).
Building a strong brand image is attractive to your business. Beforehand, define a budget and measure its effects so that the investment is profitable. The priority for a company is to sell and then reinforce its brand image.
On the other hand, a strong brand image hiding a service or a defective product can have the opposite effect and even divert the customers if the communication is disproportionate.
