Helping Small and Medium Businesses Achieve Their Full Marketing Potential | Digital Marketing Expert
The Importance Of Branding In 2023
A brand is more than just a name, a logo, or a snazzy strapline – it encompasses everything that identifies your brand, from your USPs to the values you stand for.
The History Of Branding
The concept of branding has only been around for less than a century, taking its first steps in 1931 when Neil McElroy of Proctor and Gamble penned a 3-page memo that fuelled the discipline of brand management that we know today.
Since then, there has been numerous academic literature written on the concept of branding. According to the literature, “brands are among a company’s most valuable assets”, and companies are benefiting from building a successful brand image, which has allowed them to become far-reaching, charge premium prices and build long-term customer loyalty.
Brands have now existed for decades, they are ubiquitous in today’s marketing landscape and have come to define modern marketing. The 21st century has seen an explosion of branded offerings, that present the consumer with an overwhelming amount of choice. The appeal of a brand is greater than it has ever been. When we think of brands, we usually think of the products that we buy (Apple, Coke, Nike), but just about anything can be branded.
Why Is Branding Important?
- Brands unlock growth and profitability
- Branding helps your business to be distinguishable
- Branding should inspire brand loyalty
- Branding isn’t defined by your products or services, it’s about who you are beyond them
- Good branding should feel aspirational to customers, invoking a lifestyle they can strive towards
Marketers have recognised that building and reinforcing the image of their brand is key to growth and profitability. In 2023, consumers have an extraordinary amount of choices and those brands that are well-known and trusted, create touch points that help consumers to simplify their decision-making process.
Brands, however, are unlike any other product or service; products have life cycles, but brands can last forever. A brand is not solely a name: it’s a name with the power to influence, which exists only when it has acquired the power to influence the market.
Brands are no longer about a name and a logo. A brand is a promise; it is something to aspire to, avoid, or something we can outgrow. Consumers do not just buy products and services from a brand, they buy the image of the brand to create better versions of themselves.
Building A Brand
Over the last five decades, the concept of brands and branding has developed almost out of all recognition. Its importance has not gone unnoticed by pioneers and marketers alike. The importance of brand management has become more relevant in today’s competitive market.
In 2023’s changing brandscape, building a brand is all about creating a narrative – telling a story that ultimately sustains and engages customers. Successful branding focuses on the development of adding value as brands are intangible assets – assets that produce added benefits for businesses that can aid communication, add credibility and legitimacy, and enhance visibility.
One way to express the impact branding has had is to look at arguably the most well-known brand in the world, Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has existed since the early 1890s, it owns the recipes and intellectual property, but not the factories where the actual products are made.
If a disaster were to destroy all of Coca-Cola’s production assets, the company would survive, however, if all their customers were to suddenly forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business. This helps with the notion that a brand is not just a name. It’s a name with the power to influence.
To Conclude…
We believe that branding should be at the forefront of your company’s marketing strategy so if your company is looking to unify your brand image and increase opportunities for customers to convert to your brand, then get in touch by booking a call with a member of our team.
