Michael Deshayes

When looking at some of the world's most successful, global businesses, it's not hard to see that they take their company image and customer perception very seriously. This is how and why branding is one of the most crucial aspects of a business that deals with strong competition and the ever-changing consumer environment. Now, that all might sound vague and confusing but I'll talk you through how this has a real impact on the bottom line.

Let's get into examples to illustrate the importance of branding.

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The humble t-shirt

This has to be one of the most simple examples of how branding affects the perception of a potential buyer. This example also applies to many other common products. Imagine a customer who is looking for a plain black t-shirt, they've popped into a shop and are deciding which one to buy. For the majority of people, price would be a key deciding factor... but this is where things get interesting. Most common goods like a plain t-shirt are price matched... so you're looking at various options all at the same price point. How does one decide which t-shirt to go with? The quality of all of them might 'appear' the same, the fitting is most likely the same and ultimately they might have even come from the same supplier. The key deciding factor here is which product's branding is most applicable to the customer's desires. Do they choose the Nike t-shirt or the Bonds t-shirt? It's now a battle of the brands.

Now, let's take this example to the extreme. The same suppliers for every-day t-shirts commonly produce for more high-end price-points too, often with very similar materials. A brand like Gucci could place the same basic branded t-shirt found in the common shop into a more luxurious environment and really leverage their brand's customer perception of value. Sadly, this is a common practice but I wanted to explain this as again it applies to many product categories. Branding can strongly influence the customer's perception of value as well as the perceived suitability of the product to their own needs.

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Premium branding

This is a common practice that businesses aim for when it aligns to their customer segment which demonstrates how big the impact really is on the overall sales.

With so many big examples to choose from like Apple, Rolex or Louis Vuitton, I think most people will be somewhat familiar with how this story is going to go... famous or premium feeling brands can have such a big impact it's almost more important than the product itself. For businesses in this segment, they are selling an image or an aspiration to a customer through the means of a product.

Let's take a look at a more niche example of this, camping equipment. Globally brands like Coleman have dominated the average price-point market but more recently there has been a surge in premium brands like Yeti. You can see how strong their branding is by looking at their product offerings. From insulated mugs to cooler boxes, the current YETI brand is very strongly displayed on all items, taking full attention of the customer. Now synonymous with the perception of quality, Yeti leverages this to its full potential by offering a range of products at a premium price-point to 'show off' this brand. To end this tangent, I think it's important to address the relationship between 'premium' branding and 'premium' quality of the actual product. Based on the first example of t-shirts, it's quite obvious to see that there is sometimes disconnect here but the reality is the effectiveness of successful premium branding is undisputed. Ultimately customers are the ones who choose which product they purchase (and return for a refund) and this does erode at untrustworthy branding practices. Closely aligning the branding to what accurately reflects a company's product is typically what works best in the long run for successful branding.

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Is a logo branding?

Yes, no doubt! But consider a logo a piece of a bigger puzzle that makes up how your business image is perceived (branding). On its own, a logo may be ineffective without supporting branding guidelines for imagery, marketing, tone of voice and all other touch points your customers experience.

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How would I apply 'branding' to my business?

The first thing to consider is the timing, is the business' brand established? If so, branding solutions would want to leverage whatever existing aspects of the brand are aligned to the target customer's needs whilst including additional aspects that are missing. In real-world terms, this would be things like how a customer recognizes the logo, what their assumptions are about who the brand is for and of course the almighty perception of the price point. The goal here is to change the brand's perspective for potential customers to have a bigger, more positive impact and lead to more trust and higher likelihood of sales conversion.

If a business is just starting out, this would be the ideal time to conduct research on the target audience to formulate the ideal brand. This would result in things like, what colors to utilize, what symbols and imagery would be most effective and what tone of voice to use in the marketing. In the early beginnings, brands have zero recognition so the branding needs to be very clearly aligned to potential target customers for it to be even considered amongst established brands.

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How does branding relate to marketing?

Often, what occurs in established businesses is all marketing efforts are based around the premise of the brand. Who it's for, where those customers are in their life journey and the price point. This makes the two quite closely related but typically branding extends beyond just marketing. Branding essentially influences all aspects of the business, from how products are conceived to how business-to-business relationships are established. Once established, branding pays off in the long-term as a key business asset that builds both internal and external alignment of efforts.

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I hope I've been able to shed some light with you about what branding is and how it impacts businesses. If there was one design service that I would recommend to any business that relies upon customer or business-to-business sales it would be branding. Having the right branding foundation and guidelines established goes a long way and will continue to have a return on investment over time. If this is something you're interested in, just reach out to me for a chat.

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