Decoding Branding: Expectations vs Reality

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room”—- Jeff Bezoz; Founder and CEO of Amazon

Before we dive into the significance of branding and how to build a brand, let’s go back to basics:

What is A Brand?

Is it is just another word for a logo? Is it exclusive to have corporations like Adidas or KFC? Is a theatre show considered a brand? The answers would be: NO, NO and YES. According to Wikipedia a ‘Brand’ is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers.

A brand is actually a complete perception of an organization communicating through designs and voice or you can say information. It is considered successful communication when the target market has seen or felt the products.

What is Branding?

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business. The business can be small or big, retail or B2B. Branding is an iterative process and requires getting in touch with the heart of your customers and your business. For a company, it is important to be different and unique than their competitors. To survive in this fast-changing world a unique and responsible branding has become as important as saving the world at this moment. Good branding is really important for a few important primary reasons which drive a brand value growth, which includes-

1. Knowing your consumers and relating to them
2. Building a relationship with your consumers
3. Sustaining the quality of your product
4. Providing a better value
5. Differentiate your business from the competition

Brandings for Branded Bands

1. Product Branding:

Product branding is the most common and easiest type of branding. This is a compulsory branding technique as it helps to identify the product easily. The only reason why products are easily noticeable in supermarkets or shopping malls.

2. Personal Branding:

This is a compulsory branding solution for politicians, athletes, and celebrities. But now we have been in such an era where self-branding became an important tool for job seekers as well. Personal branding skills are important because they enable you to present yourself as an expert is the only constant. When your high credibility is combined with high consumer demand from your target audience, it enables to charge higher prices or demand a higher salary and still win the business or get the job.

3. Corporate Branding:

This type of branding is important to create and maintain a reputation. Corporate branding can include multiple mediums such as logos, treatment of employees, customer service, training of employees, advertising, and quality of products and services. After Corporate Branding companies realized this game-changing strategy they have been focusing on branding more. It is important in the current scenario as the consumers are asking questions to corporates about their philosophy, practiced values, stance on sustainability and contribution to society.

You may also like: Why Is Digital Marketing Essential For Brand Building?

Expectations vs Reality

Expectation #1 : Branding is Just the Logo designing

This is the oldest expectation in the book! If a branding company in Kolkata had a penny for every time they’ve heard someone ask for a brand by saying they simply need a logo, they be a very, very wealthy agency. If you’ve hired a branding agency to work on a full branding process and you’re just expecting a logo, then we have some news for you. You’re going to get a lot more than that, some of which you may not understand.

Reality #1: Branding is Way More than “Just A Logo”

Here at PromotEdge, we take a deep dive into your business. We analyze the target market, focus on how to solve their problems, determine the brand story, positioning and messaging… And THEN we get to designing. The logo is the story behind your brand.

Expectation #2: “Anyone can do it”

The design is an essential part of branding but well-thought-out and purposeful designs are inspired by the messaging and meaning behind the brand. Well, thought out branding projects can take a lot of time, which is why you can’t trust just anyone. BRANDING IS A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE, JUST LIKE MARKETING, FINANCE, ETC.

Reality #2: Not Just Anybody’s Job, It Needs Professionals

The only people who should be handling your branding projects are professionals. Your brand is your baby, and how your company is portrayed to the world is extremely important.

We recommend working with a brand agency that has proven experience in branding projects and has worked with reputed brands. An agency that pushes you AND your team to collaborate and understand your brand’s past, present, and future and how best to present that to your audiences.

Expectation #3: Branding is Quick and We Can Get Unlimited Revisions!

As mentioned before, branding projects of branding companies are not quick projects. They require a deep dive into your brand in order to unearth the good, the bad and the ugly. The deeper you dive. The more you know.

Once the brand analysis and final touch are complete, the designer uses his or her expertise in colours, designs, etc.

Reality #3: Planned Detailed Process So Takes A Bit of Time

If you are working with the right people, your branding process won’t be quick. You will work with your team and agency to determine your target market and their pain points.

A branding agency in Kolkata creates a timeline based on a certain number of rounds for revisions. You must understand that if you throw things back over and over and over again, costs go up and the timeline has to be adjusted. Most of all, your brand visuals start to take a hit as they stray further away from communicating what the brand is, to simply portraying visuals and colors you chose just because you like them. Product branding, you see!

Expectation #4: Branding Makes Brand Successful

Expecting branding alone to make your business successful is ridiculous. To have a successful business, you have to have a great product, or service that solves a real problem, or people want to buy. If your business idea sucks, or your product just isn’t any good, no amount of professional branding or positioning will fix that. And expecting it to is ludicrous.

Reality #4: It Helps Your Brand GROW

Providing your product or service is unique, solving a real problem, or is a desirable lifestyle brand, branding can actually help grow your business.

Your business needs to be right first before you start the branding process.

Story of Branding Companies of Kolkata

There are plenty of misconceptions about the branding process. Even after reading this post, I’m sure plenty of you will say, Nah, I can go on something like Fiverr or hire a freelance designer to create a quick logo for me and I’ll be fine. That’s alright, but we think it’s a mistake.

Investing in your brand is an investment in your business. The more people who recognize you and the more you recognize you, the more your business has the opportunity to grow.

If you do decide to brand your business professionally, do your research, speak with agencies that align with your own personal mission, and start as soon as you can. This world is ever-changing, work with those that want to lift you up and see you succeed.