Why Every Business Needs a Brand (Part I)

What is a Brand?

It is a very vague concept and everyone has a different way of defining it. It seems that branding professionals even dance around the subject, since it is hard to put into words. Hopefully, my explanation will help clear it up. When you think of branding, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you live or work on a farm, a brand is what you burn into a cowhide to identify the animal, but a brand for a company is much more. A brand is many components together that form an identity or trademark for a company or product. Much like the cow, a brand for a company solidifies the company’s identity and sets their services or products apart from the competition.

Components of Branding

1. Image: Your image is your logo or visual representation that consumers can see when referring to your company.
2. Values: A value system is important and a company should have confident views on subjects, so that families will feel comfortable and trusting when making purchase decisions.
3. Personality: Adding human characteristics to a company’s identity and making it more relatable to a specific target market
4. Slogan: Not all companies choose a slogan as part of their brand, but it can help deliver the company’s message. A good slogan can be a recognizable feature.

There are many other components that make up a brand however they may differ based on the needs of the company. Each company strives to create an identity for different reasons and before attempting to create a brand, it is important to determine those needs and follow through accordingly. If this still seems confusing, I will throw an example out there.

Nike is a very well known brand. As a large corporation with enough money for over the top advertising, Nike’s marketing strategies will be very different from those of a small business, but when you break it down, they still follow the same general guidelines. The Nike logo is simple: bold lettering with the swoosh below, but it is not the logo itself that makes the brand, the brand is formed by the recognition of the logo after years of identity building. When either you think of the name, Nike, or the Nike swoosh, you think of athletes, sneakers, or quality athletic equipment, although the company goes beyond that to further their brand. In order to attach the Nike name to those things, they sign contracts and endorsements during sporting events for all kinds of advertising. They make deals to have close ups of the athletes’ shoes displayed during a game so that people can identify a Nike shoe with that athlete, but they don’t just choose any athlete, they choose the best athletes, because only the best would wear their shoes. They do this to demonstrate that they have a superior product that is only worn by the winners. All of these marketing ideas added together are what makes up Nike as a brand.

Next week (9/3) we will continue the conversation by discussing the main goals of branding. 

Contributor: Nicole Lee

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