Branding: The importance of brand building
Do you simply want a logo? Or a true love brand? Learn the difference between strong and weak brands.
Branding is not about recognition, but about preference.
Most brands focus solely on brand recognition. But what it’s really about is being THE brand of choice.
What does that mean? Well, of course, it’s about getting your brand noticed by your target audience. But that’s only the first step. Because being seen is not the same as being chosen. We all know countless brands. If you just think about it for a moment, you’ll come up with more brands than you can shake a stick at. But how many of these brands would you buy from when choosing, for example, your next pair of pants? Among all the brands you know, there are one or two that come to mind first, which, if you had to, you would choose over all others. These are the brands you feel the most connected to. You know the other brands, but you feel a connection to your favorite brands. This means: attention alone isn’t enough. If potential customers don’t prefer your brand to the others, they might as well go to one of your competitors. That’s why it’s so important, when creating a new brand, to not just create a brand—it has to be a “love brand”!
Branding correctly
Your brand is your most important deal maker – or your biggest obstacle.
A weak brand may be noticed by customers and catch their attention, perhaps even recognized, but it doesn’t allow for a clear assessment. It makes potential customers hesitate. Is the price right? Does the offer really match what I’m looking for? Do I feel comfortable with this brand? Can I find something better elsewhere?
Powerful, meaningful branding, on the other hand, creates trust, uniqueness, character, connection—and, ultimately, demand. The right branding makes your brand not just visible, but inevitable. A strong brand builds trust even before potential customers properly examine your offering. It makes your offering obvious and sets the tone for communicating with your target audience. A strong brand creates desire—a “We absolutely want to work with you!” But how do you create a strong brand?
Your brand has a purpose.
The first step toward a strong brand, toward strong branding, is to recognize what a brand actually is. What branding is all about. The goal of successful branding—the creation and definition of a new brand—is not to “create a brand.” That would be easy. But it won’t necessarily bring you the desired result. When it comes to branding, you must be clear from the outset that your brand has a purpose: to shape the behavior of your target audience. But it can only do that if it appeals to your target audience emotionally and is in tune with them.
Your steps towards a strong brand
- Get to know your target audience. To become a true love brand, you need to know what makes your target audience tick. What values are important to them. What they want. Only when you know this can you give them exactly what they want.
- Be honest and authentic. People aren’t attracted to perfection. They are attracted to honesty. Therefore, when defining your brand, you should strive to be as open and authentic as possible. Perfection can be part of this honesty if it expresses that the highest quality is part of your own standards. But it’s not absolutely necessary. People want to connect with others. And that can include fallibility. Be bold rather than perfect.
- Be relevant. Your brand shouldn’t just be an interchangeable accessory in your customers’ lives, but an important part of them. If your brand is interchangeable, your customers might like it at first. For a while. And then they’ll move on. Why? Because they don’t feel your brand. They don’t see it as a part of themselves, and it’s not part of their identity. If their brand isn’t filled with life, it won’t last.
- Make your brand a personality! If you look at the big brands in your own life, you’ll realize that the ones that matter most to you aren’t just about products. Patagonia isn’t just clothing—it’s a worldview. Sweetgreen isn’t just salad—it’s a philosophy. Apple isn’t just technology—it’s excitement. This is exactly what you should aim for with your branding: what values, what feeling should people associate with your brand?
Do you want to revamp your brand?
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Are you planning the launch of your new startup? Do you want to give your company a new boost? Are you planning a branding or rebranding project? Get expert advice from the very beginning and put your brand on a future-oriented foundation. An initial consultation is free and non-binding. I look forward to hearing from you!