Branding starts from the message

In this newsletter, we point out that branding is more than just the visual look of a brand, and how it impacts the brand negatively to think so. We explain the positive aspects of doing proper branding, a good first step to begin with, and as well as steps on how to create a simple brand guide for your organisation.?

Who am I??I provide communications and PR solutions for organisations and practitioners through community, training and consultancy. With over 20+ years in the industry, I have created frameworks, methods and content that enable you and your team to deliver growth outcomes for your organisation, brand or team.?

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Imagine, if you will, a world where the concept of branding is reduced to its most superficial elements. In this world, branding is seen as nothing more than the creation of visually appealing logos and colour schemes. The focus is on aesthetics, on creating something that is pleasing to the eye. The belief is that if a brand looks good, it will attract customers and succeed in the market.?

This belief, however, is a common misconception.?

It stems from a misunderstanding of what branding truly entails. Branding is about creating a unique identity for a product or a company. It’s about conveying a message, a promise to the customers. It’s about creating an emotional connection with the audience.?

What is the impact when we possess such a narrow mindset?

When we limit our understanding of branding to its visual elements, we miss out on its true potential.?

We end up with a brand that, while it may look good, fails to resonate with its target audience. It fails to convey a clear message, to make a promise, to create an emotional connection. As a result, the brand fails to stand out in the market, fails to attract and retain customers.?

This superficial understanding leads to a brand that, despite its visual appeal, fails to resonate with its target audience. This is the challenge that we face when we limit our understanding of branding to its visual elements. It’s a challenge that we must overcome if we want to create a successful brand.?

Branding is so much more than just a visual package.

It’s a powerful tool that can drive business success. And it all starts with the right understanding.?

At its core, branding is a process of defining and communicating the essence of your brand.?

It’s about carving out a unique space in the market and in the minds of your customers.?

It’s about articulating your brand’s values, its personality, its unique selling proposition.?

Branding is about positioning.?

It’s about determining where your brand fits in the market relative to your competitors.?

It’s about identifying your target audience and tailoring your brand to appeal to them.?

It’s about differentiating your brand from others in the market and establishing a unique identity that sets you apart.?

Branding is also about messaging.?

It’s about crafting a compelling narrative that tells the story of your brand.?

It’s about communicating your brand’s values, its mission, its promise to your customers.?

It’s about creating a consistent and cohesive message that resonates with your target audience and builds a strong emotional connection with them.?

When optimised for positioning and messaging, a brand becomes a powerful tool that can shape perceptions, build customer loyalty, and drive business success.?

It becomes a strategic asset that can influence how customers perceive your brand, how they interact with it, and ultimately, how they value it.?

When done right, branding can be a powerful tool that can drive customer loyalty, influence perceptions, and ultimately, impact the bottom line. And that’s the true power of branding.?

So, what is the first step in positioning a brand properly?

The answer lies out there in the market, in the hearts and minds of your target audience.?

Understanding your target audience is the cornerstone of effective brand positioning. It’s about knowing who your customers are, not just in terms of demographics, but also in terms of their values, their needs, their aspirations, and their perceptions. It’s about understanding what drives them, what resonates with them, and what they expect from your brand.?

Knowing your customers involves more than just collecting data. It involves empathy, insight, and a genuine desire to serve their needs. It’s about seeing the world from their perspective, understanding their pain points, and identifying opportunities to add value to their lives.?

Sidebar: How does messaging influence the customer?

Psychology is behind all human behaviour. It only makes sense that, whether we consciously realise it or not, psychology also drives consumer decisions. From using key phrasing to elicit an emotional response to leveraging the principle of scarcity and promoting novel products, there are a myriad of ways communicators can strategically use psychology to encourage the decisions they want.?

When customers cognitively and affectively engage with a brand, they are more willing to behave favourably toward the brand by purchasing its products or services, promoting it, influencing others on social media platforms, and providing valuable suggestions or feedback to the brand.?

Marketing psychology – an actual area of study – combines human psychology with marketing strategy to help brands better connect with and influence consumer behaviour. It enables brands to align content, messaging, and even visual cues with identified human behavioural patterns.?

Messaging can be tailored to the individual customer's preferences and behaviours, creating a personalised experience. This not only boosts customer satisfaction but also significantly impacts the company's bottom line.?

Here’s how to build a simple brand guide.

Once you have a deep understanding of your target audience, you can begin to put together a brand guide.?

Here are some beginning elements to include in your brand guide. Read about what these brand guide elements here.

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