The Power of a Brand

What is a Brand?

You will have heard the term talked about often and may even have your own brand, so what is a brand and why is it so important.

Let’s start with the term and what it means.

Wikipedia says “A brand is a name, term, design or other feature that distinguishes one seller's product from those of others. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising.

Initially, livestock branding was adopted to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot branding iron. A modern example of a brand is Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike etc, and a name which belongs to the respective Company.”

So this suggests that a Brand is a name which people remember you by, what name/brand name do people remember you, your business and your products by?

The keyword here is memorable; you need to have a brand name which is memorable, is your name one of those easy to remember names which connects people with you and what you do?

The brand name does not have to be directly linked with what you do although I think it helps. It needs to be a name that people can easily remember.

Think of branding cattle, the image or logo they used to brand the cattle was instantly recognised by anyone trying to determine who the animal was owned by.

The same applies when people see your brand identity or logo.

Why you need to Brand yourself

Let’s say you are an Expert at what you do, this means you want people to instantly recognise your name/brand name when they see anything that relates to you.

Creating a personal brand is essential to your success, take Anthony Robbins for example, his name is his brand. When many people hear his name they instantly connect with him and what he does.

If you want to be well known for what you do then you need to create a brand like Tony’s.

It’s not just having a name that people connect with; it is creating a complete image of you around that name.

You need to build a memory in people’s minds that instantly connects what you do with your name. If you do this right, when people talk about the e.g. Branding Expert they instantly think of a particular person.

If they think of personal development they will often think of Tony Robbins.

For many Virgin Atlantic brings Sir Richard Branson to mind, so here we have not only a personal brand, we have a company or business brand connection too.

Your Business Branded

I just mentioned Virgin, one of the most well-known brands in the western world, it is well-known because Richard Branson and his team have promoted this brand widely and ensured that behind the brand they have created a brand image that makes it stand out from the rest.

Getting known is a crucial part of the process, so having decided on a brand name it is crucial to get it well known.

You can do this by promoting your brand to a wide audience.

The best way to get your brand noticed is by ensuring whenever anyone comes in contact with your brand they have such an amazing experience that they promote your brand to everyone they speak to.

So creating a brand is much more than having a name, it is about the complete experience that you provide to your customers in such a way that they become your marketing tool, because they had such a good experience while with you and your company that they want to share that experience with others.

Your Products Branded

Branding your products is twofold, first they need to carry your brand name and then they need to have a specific brand name of their own.

Take Apple for example, first their Brand name is “Apple” then they launched a number of products that carry a very simple yet powerful brand identity e.g. iPod, iPhone, iPad. Each product connected to the previous one by the letter “i”.

Start thinking how you can brand what you do in a similar way.

What a Brand is not

Branding is not just the logo and strapline that you may have had created for your business, these are just like the branding iron which enables people to instantly recognise what is yours and what is not.

Branding is not just your name either, it is everything that you do and say as an individual, company, product or service.

Just creating a brand image is not enough; you need to ensure that at every point of contact, people instantly recognise who you are and what you do for all the right reasons.

The benefits of Branding

By now you might have established the benefits of branding, let me just highlight them for you.

A successful brand is one that is well-known because the people who do business with that brand are so impressed with the quality of service, quality of products and overall experience is just so good.

The ultimate benefit is that your customers and clients will promote your brand to other people, reducing your marketing costs and increasing your customer base.

If you are innovative with your product development and offer real value for money you will quickly increase the profitability of your company, because you have created a brand which stands out from your competition.

Branding Online

The World Wide Web is a huge data base of content. When people search for your brand online it is crucial that you stand out.

To do this you need to achieve two major things. First you need to be instantly recognised when people search for you.

Secondly you need to develop your online media in such a way that when people type in your name, brand name, product name or business name or any search term that relates to what you do. The search engines like Google find you. Not only do they find you, you dominate the search engines for the term that they key in.

In this way you will be found, seen as the Authority for what you do and more people will buy from you. There are five steps to ensuring you achieve this online, if you use our You-Branded five step system you will ensure when people search for you, they will find you.

Who should be Branded?

By now you know who, anyone who wants to grow their business fast, wants to reduce marketing costs and increase profits.

Has a name that is remembered by many for all the right reasons.

Has a name that is respected by all as being a major player in your market place and Industry.