We live in the era of brands: people create personal brands, companies seek to create brands around their products. But few people can say what a brand is, what it consists of, and why businesses need it.
A brand is an image in the mind of the consumer, creating a value for which he is willing to pay more.
To understand what an image is in the mind, just think of any name: Volvo, BMW, Apple. Think of any brand name and say what’s the first thing that comes to your mind. These can be completely unexpected stories related to poor service, or a high price, or on the contrary with some kind of “wow effect”, a pleasant experience of interacting with the product. All of this ultimately forms the image and the brand that lives in your head. The name and logo are just the key to those memories.
Before you build your brand, you need to define your power – the benefit you give to the consumer. Then, based on each point of contact, you have to communicate that benefit, building a strong, cohesive image that will ultimately carry value. This whole process is called branding.
The image and value are built in the strategy phase. Strategy is the overall plan for image and added value, how you’re going to get from point, A to point B:
- Describes the current brand position, market and competitors.
- Identifies points of growth and tweaking.
- Systematizes products and services, creates a product matrix.
- Contains the key ideological constants of the brand, which form the desired image and added value.