When business owners think about branding, they often time make the mistake of thinking about branding in terms of the logo that they are going to use or the tagline they’re going to use for their company. The truth is that branding goes well beyond just those few things. Branding is at the heart of what defines what a company is. A good brand should not only be something that is visual or audio, but it should be something that touches the heart and the emotions of potential customers.
To get a good idea of what could branding is, one only needs to look at some of the larger fast food chains. Even though people realize that the food produced by these fast food chains is not the highest quality food that is available, they still line up by the hundreds of millions every single year to purchase food from these places. Why? Because ever since they were children, they have seen the advertisements for these companies. These companies have connected their brand to feel-good events and feel-good emotions.
Many parents have bought into this idea, and so when their child does something good, they reward the child by taking them to one of these fast food restaurants. As the child grows up, they continue the same process with their children, all the while increasing the emotional connection they have to said brand.
When a person feels emotionally connected to a brand, they have a sense of loyalty that is difficult to shake. Two companies could produce the exact same product. One company could produce the product at 15 to 20 percent less. However, if the more expensive product is produced by a company that has developed a good reputation and a good brand, customers are going to happily pay more for the same product just because of how good it makes them feel purchasing the product from a company that they have an emotional bond with.
Branding encompasses a lot of different facets. A company can improve their brand through market advertising, Facebook advertising, television advertising, or even something as simple as purchasing print custom stickers for their business. These stickers can be given to customers, and the customers can put them on their vehicles or put them on other things that they use on a daily basis. All of this goes to building brand loyalty.