What Is The Definition Of Branding
Many sources define branding as a marketing and advertising tool designed to make your organisation easily identifiable through name, symbol or design.
At Platform Presence, we believe branding is about more than simply identification. It is about Identity (How can we recognise you out of the crowd?), Imprint (What kind of mark or impression do you leave?) and Ideology (What game-changing ideas do you have that will make most people believe you are undoubtedly the superior brand?)
We define branding as the process of creating immense tangible and intangible value within the minds of those that interact with your brand and ensuring that this association always places you as the top, or even better, as the only brand of choice in their minds.
Think about your favourite brand of toothpaste, restaurant, smartphone, doctor or singer?
What brand springs to mind first and why?
The most likely reason is that your mind has linked those particular brands to a unique value combination – those brands not only get the job done (tangible value), but also make you feel better psychologically (intangible value). They may make you feel more organised, more successful or maybe even simply nostalgic about a particular time in your life, while also offering a practical solution.
Creating this unique value combination is the most powerful weapon in branding. It makes consumer / buyer selection a much faster and less complex process.
Fenty Beauty is a great example of a powerful brand that successfully utilises this unique value combination. According to thinkwithgoogle.com, in their first year of business, Fenty Beauty became the biggest beauty brand launch in YouTube history, drove huge success commercially, and was named one of Time Magazine’s best inventions of 2017. How? When they launched their makeup collection, it had great reviews for its packaging, consistency, pigmentation and more rational benefits, but what made it the most memorable launch and no doubt catapulted their sales numbers was the inclusivity they offered through their wide range of products catering to different skin tones. These numerous shades allowed more consumers to easily find their perfect match and feel personally catered to (intangible value). This type of branding initiative created a consumer loyalty that can’t easily be erased.
Savage X Fenty uses this same technique whenever they launch a new underwear collection. They always portray inclusivity and this consistently broadens their support base as well as their sales. Their recent menswear launch in October 2020 created a well deserved social media storm that will always be remembered for making plus size men be, and feel, celebrated.
Knowing this, as a brand manager, what steps would you take to create this unique value combination for your clients? Let me know in the comment section below.