What is a brand?

A brand is how a company differentiates itself from its peer brands. A brand can be thought of as the personality of the company, communicated through an identifying mark, logo, name, tagline, voice, and tone. Some of the oldest and most recognizable brand names in automotive, toys, and food and beverage have been around for decades, with some surpassing more than a century of consistent and recognizable branding.
There are three main types of brands, including company/corporation brands, product brands, and personal brands, which apply to individuals. The rules of brand marketing apply, regardless of type. Now that we know what a brand is, let’s talk about how to create a brand marketing strategy.
The channels available for a brand marketing strategy are the same channels that companies can use for product marketing activities, such as digital, social, and paid search advertising. A good strategy is to use different channels together to create a media mix that reaches a wide audience. For example, brand marketers might use a brand advertising strategy supplemented by email and content marketing efforts to drive brand awareness and reach potential customers across multiple digital spaces. But when it comes to deciding the right messages for the right audiences in these spaces, we first have to consider brand attributes.
What is brand marketing?

Brand marketing is the process of establishing and growing a relationship between a brand and consumers. Rather than highlighting an individual product or service, brand marketing promotes the entirety of the brand, using the products and services as proof points that support the brand’s promise. The goal of brand marketing is to build a brand’s value – and the company’s value as a result.

What are brand attributes?

Just like people have their own unique combinations of personality traits, brands have unique attributes, as well. Attributes are identifiers that consumers see as part of a brand. These can include the name and tagline, colors, or even music or sounds often associated with the brand. In addition, attributes can be the feeling that a brand evokes. Example “feeling” attributes include authentic, innovative, dependable, honest, or transparent.

What is brand equity?

Brand equity is the value of a company’s brand, or the measure of consumers’ perceptions of the brand. Strong brand equity has to do with how well consumers know the brand, their preference for it over others, their level of connection with the brand, and their level of loyalty to it. Strong brand equity opens doors for brands to innovate and expand their businesses with the support of their loyal base of consumers.

What is a brand-consumer relationship?

The brand-consumer relationship, also called the consumer-brand or brand relationship, is how well a brand and consumers are connected. Is it a strong connection or a weak one? A positive connection or a negative one? Are consumers functionally connected to the brand or are they emotionally invested in it? The best brand connections are strong, positive, and emotionally rooted. These are the connections that help turn buyers from one-time purchasers into lifelong brand advocates.

Why is branding important?

Branding is perhaps more important than ever as marketplaces become more saturated and it becomes harder to make genuine connections with consumers. Branding allows companies to tell their unique stories and shift perception by giving customers something to believe in. It sparks interest, and invites customers to discover, learn about, and establish a memorable relationship with their brand. Rather than specs and features, branding is about what a company stands for – who it is at the core. Branding is about making consumers feel good about supporting a company and establishing an emotional connection. Those that brand effectively create a lasting impression that helps grow advocacy and loyalty among customers for the long term.

Building a brand strategy

A brand strategy is the roadmap companies follow in order to develop their brand. A well-defined brand strategy is critical in creating a strong brand. Every brand strategy should incorporate the following elements.

Research

A company’s brand-building strategy must be grounded in research that outlines the competitive landscape and how the brand solves a unique need within it. This helps the brand set realistic goals for growth and understand how its peers are positioning their brands.
Goals and objectives

Goals and objectives include measurable brand and marketing metrics as well as the overarching brand goal. What is the promise of the brand? What are the experiences consumers can expect with every brand interaction? Working backwards and answering these questions first will help a company define who they are and what purpose they serve for consumers.

Audience definition

Every brand and marketing strategy should include clearly defined audiences based upon internal and external information. Develop personas – fictional representations of ideal consumers – that include demographic and behavioural information to help inform the brand’s tone of voice, media buying, and strategy to reach the right audiences.

Create a brand identity

When it comes to branding, identity means all of the design elements that work together to make up the visual representation of the brand. This includes the name, logo, tagline, colour palette, typefaces, and image style. A clear and consistent brand identity contributes to increased awareness.

Define messaging and positioning

What are the messages the brand will use to reinforce the brand promise? How will the brand be positioned in relation to peer brands? Define both internal and external brand messaging, with internal focusing on communicating with employees and stakeholders, and external focused on communicating with consumers. Be sure to also define the brand’s mission, vision statement, values, and brand positioning statement—what the brand does, for whom, and how it delivers on its brand promise. Done right, these elements of brand storytelling will remain in customers’ minds far longer than the memory of the individual products they’ve purchased.

Develop brand guidelines
Brand guidelines are the comprehensive outline of how and how not to use brand elements to ensure cohesion across the board. Brand guidelines explain the voice and tone of the brand, highlight image style, include a content style guide, and map out correct logo and typeface usage. Brand guidelines are a critical piece of brand management and brand marketing strategy because they allow for companies to roll out a brand at scale with everyone building from the same toolkit. This also includes the brand asset library, where marketers can pull approved brand assets.

Rollout timeline
Brand marketing strategy should include a rollout timeline, including details for when elements like a complementary web presence and supporting digital advertising campaign will launch. Remember that if this is a rebrand, everything from email signatures, to social assets, to newsletter templates, to signage needs to be updated, too.