Why bother with branding? Here’s 7 reasons why we think you should!
In our last blog we delved into the world of branding, in this post we ask – why bother with branding? With time and money at a premium, we explore the real reasons you should bother with branding.
1. Your customers will remember you
People stick to what they know and branding helps us recall familiar brands quickly. A recognisable logo, and compelling brand story leave lasting memories. Under pressure to buy yoghurt in the supermarket the white, heart-shaped Yeo Valley logo stands out on the shelf. Reminding us of the organic, local story behind the brand, decisions are quickly made. If you deliver a consistent, authentic experience; happy, satisfied customers will remember you.
2. Your customers trust what they know
Apple has inspired a generation who trust the brand enough to queue for hours for their latest product with no user reviews and often only a spec to go on. From products to services, user generated reviews are big business, and who doesn’t head to Trip Advisor before popping out for a bite to eat? Creating trust means customers will shout about your brand for you. A loyal fan base will provide you with valuable word of mouth endorsements. Keep them happy and they will champion your brand to your future customers. But remember, this works both ways – upset them and you will feel the wrath!
3. Brand reinforces advertising
Print, TV, radio and digital advertising, all great ways to tell the world about what you do. But to remain effective a seamless brand experience is needed. Last year Sainsbury’s led the way with the smart ‘Christmas is for sharing’ campaign. Featuring Mog the cat in a heart warming TV advert, it was strongly reinforced by many other brand elements. A popular YouTube video, a Mog book you could buy in store with proceeds going to charity and ways of sharing your own videos across social media. A well executed, funny, and ultimately successful example of brand playing an intricate part in advertising.
4. Brand increases the value of your business
Apple, Google, BMW, the value of these big players is much more than just their physical assets. These brands are so strong they have created their own worth. This value, although hard to monetize, is based on many factors. Global reputation, number of people the brand reaches, actual experience…the list goes on. When it comes to brand, these guys get it right, and this is why many of us want to join the journey with them.
5. Brand inspires loyalty
Brand loyal customers will stick with you. Ocado online shopping now have a hoard of loyal customers, offering an easy to use website enabling you to import your favourites from other supermarkets, a low price promise, and the ‘Smart Pass’ to ensure your delivery costs stay low. They have carved out a superb, unique offering in the online grocery market, rivalling the big names, living by the promise ‘shopping made easy’.
6. Brand creates new customers
Brand can help bring new customers onboard, and an ethical story with natural, sustainable food at the heart of it is a good way to turn heads. Cat food was always a two brand race until Lily’s Kitchen sprung up on the supermarket shelves. Coupling natural pet food with doing good in the pet community the brand has quickly generated first time purchases from a lot of pet owners.
7. Brand increases employee pride and satisfaction
A theory proven many times over that we don’t go to work purely for money. Brand can help your people feel motivated and satisfied. It will attract (and keep) the right people to work for you, and empower them to do their best. Here at Giant Peach our philosophy is to treat our people as family, we cook for each other once a week, have a pool table for down time and simply strive to ‘Make Mondays suck less, and Fridays well deserved.’
To wrap it up…
From small, local business, to big global organisations, brand should not be ignored. Your brand will help you become memorable, ensure you stand out from the crowd (and believe me, it’s crowded out there!). It will give your customers something to rave about to their friends, online community, and create your own army of loyal fans.
A successful brand creates seamless experiences. If a company tweets about a product, ensuring it’s available quickly is a must. Brand will help turn those you want to be your customers into your most loyal friends.
And whether they’re happy about it or not, some of the biggest and most successful brands have become household names and even entered the dictionary. And on that note I’m just off to google places to eat for lunch. (other search engines are available…)
Join us for our next blog when we will be chatting about how you can bring brand to life for your business.