GENERATING A COMPANY BRAND
The word brand in today’s context sends a quick imagery signal to a customer’s mind as the word is mentioned. Then the imagery triggers a name to instantly be associated with it. That imagery signal comes in the form of a logo or slogan which triggers a name to be recognized when presented. While company logos and company brand names are part of a whole brand. They are just a section of the whole brand in itself . The entire brand is made up of the general experience received by your customers.
Example
Let’s say when the topic of luxurious mobile phones is set on the table, the imagery of the Apple logo comes to mind. Then the name iPhone follows. Finally, the other features of the iPhone like the iTunes and camera resolution come to mind. So the brand is the complete package that makes the product different from other similar products as well as the customer’s experience.
How
Generating a brand is way more than just the logo and name of the brand, it involves everything, from the name and logo, down to the very product content or service content. So when you want to generate a brand, the first and critical part is getting a product or a particular area of service rendering.
What is a brand
A brand is a detailed concept, product, or service, that stands out from a similar concept, product, and services in the market because of its features which include the brand name, messaging, brand logo, color, packaging, and content.
Generating a brand
Generating a brand is not designing a logo, No. It is birthing or bringing into existence a product, concept or service. There are different types of branding, and the type you choose is dependent on your product or services to be rendered. You don’t want to rush into generating a brand without knowing the type of brand you are generating, here are some listed types of branding.
Individual brand:
This brand involves one product made from a company that produces several other products. For example: Nike might brand a particular shoe, but their company sells thousands of items.
Personal brand:
An individual can create a brand of themselves. In comics when we see the Superman logo or the bat symbol, we know a superhero is coming to save the day. Personal brands have become more accessible and easier to create with the emergence of social media.
Event brand:
Events can also be a brand. The most commonly branded events are, re-occurring events like the Olympic Games, The Grammy’s Award, Comedy Shows, Trade Fairs, etc.
Location brand:
This is essential for the business of tourism. Locations are branded using their attractions and the possible experience. If a location wants to gain popularity, they must show that traveling to that location would be beneficial.
Service brand:
This brand is for those that are into the rendering of services that are not necessarily tangible, Like an accountant service.
Organization brand:
This brand is for organization or companies that are into production or rendering of services — the likes of Toyota, Nike, Gucci, Apple and so on.
Now that we know a few types of brands, we can begin to generate a brand. However, before the strategies let’s see the components of a brand.
Components of a brand
Brands Image
The brand image is the way your clients perceive your product. It is not the look on the product’s packaging but rather, the mental idea they have about your brand.
Brand Identity
This is the physical imagery of your brand. More precisely, the way people recognize the brand. The company’s brand identity might be a tagline, a logo, or key color. For example, when you see a the Underarmour logo you immediately know who made it without further description.
Brand Personality
This is no different from personality when used in the context of a person. The unique qualities that make your brand different from another are your companies brand personality. Brand personality is the emotional and personal qualities associated with your brand by your market. The way a person reacts in particular situations makes up their personality. Similarly, the experience customers get when dealing with a company builds a personality for their brand.
Brand Positioning
This element is the process of placing your brand in front of the target audience. Brand Positioning does not mean getting a position in the showroom. It refers to the way that the brand is made and the audience it appeals to. You may put your product low on shelves if you’re targeting small children. For example, the mini van is perceived to be a family vehicle. Therefore, advertising in a bar or club would not work as well as advertising near a playground.
Brand Communication
Brand communication are the messages a brand sends to the public through adverts, punchline, hoarding, and various sources about the brands benefit to the consumer. This element is vital because it might get you your next client or customer knocking at the door.
Brand Gap
This is the difference between the brand communication and what the brand indeed offers. Companies create excitement using brand communication. If the brand does not live up to expectations, the customers become disappointed. Even with communication hype, the brand gap should be limited. Nothing will kill a brand more than a large brand gap.
We are familiar with the features of the brand; we can now generate our brand by developing on these features and some other. Here is a quick guide through the steps in generating your brand.
Easy steps to generating your brand
Know your market
After choosing your product or services, you need to identify the people you are selling to. This will help you develop your brand features. If your brand market is child-centered, you should work on having a brand personality that is appealing to kids. Certain colors, shapes, and words are more appealing to different demographics. Studying what is appealing to your target audience will give your brand an edge over the competition.
Know what you are up against
You are not the first person that is starting that very brand, check on those in the industry already, find their area of weakness or challenges and build your brand trying to fix their lapses. Might be difficult, but that’s your key to taking over the market.
Get a brand mission statement
This mission statement might not be essential, but it helps keep you on track and also channel your efforts to meeting them. The more you get to achieve this mission statement, the more satisfied the market becomes with your brand.
Create a brand identity
Remember the brand identity is what people see and hear that make all their attention go straight to a particular brand. Creating a brand identity requires a logo, color, photography, typography and more. Combining everything creates a perfect brand identity. A great brand identity should send a strong message about the brand
Develop your brand content Personality
Your brand content is what determines people’s reaction when they see your brand identity if your brand content has registered a negative brand image in the mind of the customers then forget about brand identity. Develop your brand personality in such a way that it reduces the brand gap to the bare minimum. Then send a positive brand image to the consumer.
Mark out the real benefits of your brand
When you develop your brand content, no doubt there is going to be some extra benefits on the side of the consumer. Get the customers to know this benefit through the brand communication.
Improve on it over time
After successfully owning your brand, you should continually work on making it better because it can’t be too good and it can always get better
To market your brand you can get influencers to recommend you. However, they can only do this if you have done the ground work and built the image.
Your brand should have a public and a private signature
Public signature
What the public sees that makes your brand stand out.
Private signature
That formula you don’t expose to your competitors that make your brand stand out.