Developing a Strong Brand. How and Why?

For some time, you see a drop in profits, coupled with competition becoming increasingly fierce and reduced awareness of your products or services? If that is the case, it is quite possible that you are experiencing a problem with your brand. Is there a gap between the perception you have of your business and the public and your customers? The difficulty for the public to recognize your products/services may be due to a lack of consistency in your advertising efforts. Or maybe your image simply requires a little revitalization?

Also, if you plan to start your business soon, the time is right to develop your brand to start on a sound and sustainable footing!

Branding, what art is it?

Commonly known corporate image or “branding”, branding is the public perception of a company, its products, and its trademarks. Consumers have an idea of a mark according to their different personal experiences or impressions that are suggested to them either by the messages conveyed by the media or by their relatives.

The public is forging an impression of a brand from its perception of a multitude of concrete and abstract elements. This is why the image “seen” by the public sometimes differs from that of the company itself, or that it is trying to convey. Still, it’s up to the company to favorably influence this perception. Are you looking to promoting your fashion brand online? If yes, then you should focus on developing a strong brand.

The components of branding

When trying to create a brand, it is important to first define the goals, develop a business strategy and, above all, to ensure continuous monitoring of the consistency of all its components. The brand is a company’s assets; it has value, even if it is difficult to quantify. Always stay focused and motivated to develop your brand.

Many components are used to create the brand image of a company, and each of them must be carefully studied.

The product or service

The product or service, by its shape, its features, its price and its ingenuity is the leading player and often the main creative agent of a company’s brand image. Many businesses are born as a result of a product idea or service. This original idea will model often the image that the public will retain the company.

Name and visual identity

The company shapes its image in particular by name and by the visual identity and sound that she chooses to give his company and its products, as well as through its distribution network.

Speeches and experience

The image is also created according to the history of the company, the vision, and values of leadership, the expertise, the strengths and weaknesses of the company, in the shopping experience and shopping online or offline, the after-sales service and employees.

The role of branding

Consumer

Associated with the products, the brand creates value for the consumer for the following reasons:

1. It ensures product consistency over time, a familiar presence, continuous and sustainable.
2. It allows him to differentiate from others by a unique selling proposition (USP).
3. It enhances the consumer who identifies with the brand.
4. It allows to easily identify the product with the logo, message, name, and packaging.
5. It creates a bond of trust and thus to retain customers

Business

Combined with the company, the brand influencers create value for the company for the following reasons:

1. It gives weight to the company during negotiations with distributors.
2. It allows increasing the profit margin and justifying including a higher price.
3. It creates a sense of belonging by operation of reputation and corporate culture.
4. It simplifies the hiring.
5. It facilitates obtaining financing through the investor confidence

Branding: container and contained

If more concretely explores the main components of branding, we can separate the whole into two categories ie the container (visual identity) and the content (speech, the message). Here is a summary of the work you need to consider in developing your brand.

Containing 

1. Creation of the company name
2. Design or logo refresh
3. Design of the graphics environment (pictures/photos, typography, colors, graphics)
4. Designing a graphical grid or a set of standards
5. Setting up a company stock photography (image bank or photo shoot)
6. Layout stationery envelopes, letterheads, business cards, corporate folders
7. Packaging design or packaging of the product ( “Packaging”)

Contents 

1. History formulation and/or the origin of the company
2. Saying the company culture (philosophy, values, mission, unique selling [USP])
3. Writing the company’s blurbs (sectors, departments, divisions, products, etc.)
4. Create a signature

Conclusion

We briefly introduced the above role, the benefits and the various components of branding. As you see, there is a rigorous work, not to be taken lightly, which requires many hours of work and reflection, both on the part of the agency and the client. The development of a strong brand image passes necessarily through introspection and a return to the roots; such a journey is necessary to find the values of your company and the elements that distinguish it from the competition.

To increase the effectiveness of branding, it is very important to adopt some complementary strategies, as a good communication plan.

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