What is corporate branding?

 

Branding is the discipline that is responsible for the construction, growth, and expansion and strengthening of a brand. It gathers all the processes and actions that are necessary, from the creation of a specific brand to the generation of value in it.
In practice, branding deals with finding what characterizes the brand, which makes it unique. This should be your main goal!

 

The elements of differentiation we are talking about are based on tangible or intangible attributes of the product or service that are relevant to its audiences. That is the characteristics that truly respond to the values, capabilities, and personality of the company.

 

The main task of branding is to promote those attributes to make your brand really reach the audience you are targeting.

 

But branding is not only responsible for detecting what these values ​​are. In fact, its main mission, in a second phase, is to continue working to be able to maintain them over time.

 

The companies that take care of their brands permanently will be coherent at all times with their value propositions. On the other hand, they will also know how to adapt their brand strategies to the challenges and changes of each moment.

 

How can branding help your company?

 

Working on your corporate branding is an action that you should take into account if you have a company or manage one. Regardless of the type of product or service you offer and the stage in which your business is located.

 

To give you an idea of ​​what it can bring you, let’s focus on the advantages of working with corporate branding:

 

  • Higher growth rate, because you attract customers faster and do so at lower costs than your competitors.
  • Greater fidelity of your clients. In addition, it manages to convert customers into fans who recommend the brand in their circles of influence.
  • Easier to capture the best talent and to make your brand more attractive for partners and investors.
  • The easier reach of new categories, markets or businesses, thanks to the strength and credibility of your brand and the ability to establish partnerships. When a customer trusts your brand, they are more likely to be interested in new products and services. Even in different categories and away from the original.
  • More profitability, stability, and sustainability, because you are less vulnerable to the attacks of competition and the vagaries of crises. As for these, if you have good branding, you get more leniencies from your customers if you make mistakes.
  • Greater equity value and cash flow of your brand, together with lower capital costs.
  • Greater profitability with respect to competitors because you can apply a certain price premium to your products or services. With the reduction of communication costs, you get more performance because you get more attention and greater synergies in your marketing investments.

 

The benefits are many and, taking into account the growing competitiveness of the market, the implementation and consolidation of your brand through branding is something that you cannot leave in the background.

 

In fact, the biggest challenge for companies today is strictly related to their identity. Do you agree?

 

 

What challenges do brands face in today’s society?

 

The main challenge is no longer to generate transactions but to build and maintain relationships. To achieve this, the first step is to provide companies with meaning and personality or, in other words, work with branding.

 

It is important to have a very clear vision of the market situation, its challenges, and opportunities so that the construction, development, and consolidation of your brand are effective.

 

In the 21st century, the scenario is characterized by:

 

  • Very changing society. As well as people, companies have to learn to be flexible. It is important to know how to adapt to change.
  • Immediateness. The purchasing processes are getting faster, and the news and news are immediately expanded by the networks.
  • A lot of information available to the majority of consumers. There is a need to select information.
  • Globalization of technology.
  • Increase in competition and the need to search for very specific niches to stand out from so much supply.
  • Obsolete classic communication tools.

 

 

What opportunities are presented to us?

 

Precisely, most of these challenges present us with opportunities to undertake change and to be able to develop new ideas and improvement.

 

Nowadays, if you want your company to stand out from the competition, it is not enough to have a good marketing plan. You will also have to develop effective branding strategies that allow your brand to attract, generate and develop links with all stakeholders.

 

It is not only about detecting and attracting customers, but branding is also a process that begins long before the sale and that much less ends with it.

 

Therefore, branding is essential in environments such as today’s. Brands and their meanings have become the axis of the new strategies that companies use to differentiate themselves.

 

 

How to boost your brand?

 

If you think that your company would benefit from the advantages offered by branding, read on! Here are the guidelines to improve your corporate branding.

 

First step: Define the strategic plan

The main initial objective is to identify what makes your company, your product or service unique. Furthermore, they have to be relevant to your target audience.

 

Where to start? Begin by analyzing the 3 key pieces of this action:

  1. The identity, culture, values, skills, and abilities of your company.
  2. The current market and trends.
  3. The needs and aspirations of current and potential users

 

This first analysis will help you formulate a strategy that, based on what your brand is today, define how far you want to go and how to do it.

 

All internal resources will have to be aligned with the value proposition that the brand encloses. This way, products, people, physical and virtual environments and communications must participate actively and operate in accordance with the construction of a clear, coherent and defined perception.

 

The brand affects all the functional areas and must contemplate the interaction with all the interest groups, not only with the clients. So the key is to ensure a coherent experience and aligned with the strategy defined from all points of contact that the company has, whether owned or earned or paid.

 

The focus is mainly on creating patterns of behavior in organizations. Did you know that the perception we have of a company is based more on what it does than on what it says?

 

For this reason, it is essential to allocate regular and specific investments for the brand. Working with branding has to be a constant task. It is part of a plan that is based more on making the most of the assets, supports, and contents that we already have in buying spaces in the media.

 

You have to think that the construction of a brand is a long-distance race, not a punctual effort.

 

Next steps: Key elements to consider

The development of this strategic plan is composed of different elements that you can work and implement. Let’s analyze them one by one:

 

  1. Corporate identity or visual identity

It refers to the physical and visual aspects of your brand: Style, logo, naming, packaging, the ambiance of the premises, business cards, etc.

 

If it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, think about the impact you can generate on your audience, thanks to a well-developed corporate identity that will allow you to:

  • Create an emotional bond with the consumer.
  • Transmit the values ​​of your company at first sight.
  • Be recognized without having to present it.

To personalize the image of your brand, you can be inspired by the latest trends. In relation to packaging, for example, you can choose recycled or recyclable materials; customize them with graphic elements, use new technologies to allow better tracking of the delivery status, etc.

 

The creation of the brand name, naming, is another key piece for the image of your brand. Recruitment, loyalty, and positioning in the online environment are strictly related to this element.

 

Think that there are specialized consultants in this aspect that can help you identify the best name for your brand and detect strategic opportunities.

 

  1. Quality content

The creation of quality content is a strategy that has multiple benefits for the health of your company. For example, a blog in which you offer useful and quality information allows you to:

  • Target a target audience well segmented and increase the chances of attracting new leads.
  • Consolidate the relationship you have with your customers, make them recommend you and become ambassadors of your brand.
  • Increase the authority of your company in the sector and make your brand stand out from the competition.
  • Work your online presence and gain positioning in the search engines.

Quality content, a key element of an inbound marketing strategy, is a tool that you should take into account to implement your corporate branding strategy.

 

  1. Communication with your public audience

Communication with your audiences is a great opportunity and a very important asset to your company. With the right language and the right tools, you can establish closer relationships and consolidate the link with your customers.

 

These are some channels and strategies that you should exploit so that the perception of your brand acquires added value:

  • Web with good usability.
  • Well-structured and personalized emails.
  • Presence in social networks.
  • Offer an agile and secure shopping experience.
  • Customer service capable of listening and offering the best solutions.

In working constantly to improve these elements in your strategy, the results will not be long in coming. And, most interesting of all, you will have some clients in love with your brand. Could you ask for more?

 

As we have seen, brands are living realities and must be constantly directed and taken care of so that they won’t lose their ability to influence.

 

The construction of a brand is the cumulative result of everything a company says or does from all its forms of manifestation. Therefore, it is difficult to define where the discipline of branding begins and ends.

 

And, above all, remember: Each action and expression will project an image of your company in the minds of the people with whom your brand interacts.

 

Do you understand now why branding is an autonomous discipline, mature and more necessary than ever?

 

If you have come this far, it is because you believe in the potential of working with your company’s branding. Well, I think you’re on the right road! Now, tell us: What branding actions have you done so far and which ones would you like to implement? Create, strengthen and consolidate the identity of your company. Work with us. Email us at business@thebrandtheatre.com or Call us at (65) 6288 7812.