What Makes A Successful Brand?

There is a reason why you look forward to buying a Macbook instead of a Lenovo laptop; why you reach for Coca-Cola over Fanta; or why you grab Mcdonald’s burgers and not Wendy’s—and it all boils down to branding.

In fact, it’s proven that 71% of consumers are more likely to buy a product from a brand they recognize. We currently live in a time when business is shifting over from product marketing to brand marketing.

How branding makes a product memorable

The reason why branding is so powerful is because of its capability to boost brand equity—also known as the added value brought to the products of a particular company.

Some brands are able to charge higher as compared to others because they have built their brand equity over time. Most of the time, it is because of perceived quality and emotional attachment.

One example is Starbucks. While you can get coffee for less than $2 a cup in other coffee houses, Starbucks was able to build its brand equity through the coffeehouse experience they offer.

The owner’s vision was to establish the coffee shop as the “Third Place”—a place that exists between work and home. They were able to achieve this by cultivating an inviting spot wherein people can drop by and listen to the brand’s staple indie music, complete with the fresh aroma of coffee beans (which also revolutionized the naming game of the coffee shop industry) along with a clean atmosphere.

Now, it’s no wonder why people flock over to the thousands of branches they have worldwide. While consumers know that they can buy cheaper coffee elsewhere, Starbucks excels in delivering both taste and experience.

Basic components of a successful brand

Brand Visuals

While the logo is a main component and is the one that people are exposed to the most, a logo is just a part that makes the whole brand. Your visuals, which includes your brand colors, typeface, illustrations, icons and patterns all contribute to building better brand recognition.

Be consistent with how you brand your company and create templates or brand guidelines so that everything looks uniform and neat. Randomly choosing different colors for every post or store opening can confuse consumers.

You also need to make sure that your visuals are in line with your brand goals. The recent Burger King rebrand is a prime example of this. Raphael Abreu, Restaurant Brands International Head of Design, said that they wanted to use design which will trigger people to crave their food.

When you look at the before and after, the new logo emphasizes the burger buns more than the previous one. The vibrant colors were also curated with the goal to evoke fun and freshness – a drastic shift from the diners’ perspective that fast food is inauthentic and bland.

Brand Voice and Messaging

Contrary to popular belief, your logo is not your brand. In fact, it’s not even your brand visuals. While these can help with brand consistency and recognition, everything is still rooted to your brand’s message, experience, beliefs, and values.

What are the key messages you would like to tell the world? And how do you get that across?

Taking Nike and its famous “Just do it.” tagline as an example. It’s no wonder why a sports brand chose to focus on such an empowering message.  Their advertisements, from a 1988 advertisment featuring an 80-year-old marathon runner talking about his daily 17-mile run to its 2012 ‘Find Your Greatness’ campaign, embodies Nike’s goal to encourage people to push their limits.

Before establishing your tagline, slogan or message, you must first have a firm mission, vision and values statements. Remember that your brand does not only tell your brand story. It also shows people what the company stands for.

While your products and your marketing strategies do play a major role in boosting sales, what makes branding crucial in business is the way it makes the product memorable to the market. By implementing these branding basics and being strategic with your approach, you will be able to appeal to the consumers’ subconscious. Make sure to do your research first and to also dedicate time to doing a deep dive into your brand’s values, mission and vision.