Hello world! Let’s talk about the B word. From the numerous inappropriate words that came to your mind, let’s go with mine- Branding. What IS Branding? Everyone might be having their own opinions about this word. Let’s discuss what my thoughts are!
Branding is a story between a business and its customers. It is how a product/service will talk to its clients, how it’ll take form in their eyes. It is about introducing what you are and what you bring forth, by the means of designs and communication, starting from the look and feel of it.
Who all is branding for?
– It is for those businesses that are starting up
– And more importantly even for those who are expanding their business and want to retain their creditability and customer base. We call it a step-up!
While marketing & communicating to your customers, clarity of the design & thoughts is of utmost importance. It helps to clarify your target group is, what is your distinctive offering with multiple selling prepositions and what communication medium you are using. When you have a parcel that needs to be delivered somewhere immediately, you think of FedEx. Why is that? That’s because of their clear offering- “WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAS TO BE THERE OVERNIGHT-FedEx.”
Branding does THIS for you. It lets you become the name that is recognised, generates recall in customers mind and makes the sales part easier. It helps you leave a mark on the subconscious minds. People tend to buy from companies they have heard of. They make decisions based on experiences, feel and on emotional connect.
Since now we know what exactly is branding let us also know why this sector has an increasing importance in Indian market. India is one of the emmerging consumer market in the word. Global corporations view India as the vital market for the future. It has a young demographic and a middle class strugling for better income sustainability.
If it can sustain its current pace of growth in future, then India is expected to become the fifth largest consumer economy in the world by 2025. At such a stage, National Income of a country is expected to rise, leading to an expected increase in disposable income of the population. Due to this strong in hand purchasing power of the consumers, the market is expected to become highly competitive as consumer demands will become hugely volatile.
The recent government lead by Mr. Modi, is also focusing on Foreign Direct Investment for infrastructural development which is resulting in entry of global standard products & services. In order to retain existing organization’s market share & consumer demand for its product/services, the entrepreneur constantly have to manage & maintain their brand image.
Hence entry of a new product or services must come up with good branding & differentiating attributes & packaging. The communication of these brand must have a strong media marketing strategy across all the platforms like print, OOH, televsion & most importantly digital & social media.
This is necessary in order to sustain in a competitive market. Hence, brand development & managemnet fields are increasingly recognised by various producers as a crucial engine of sustainable growth and development. Currently in India, branding sector is changing the face of industries and economy.
Considering this Indian market scenario you might have already started thinking about transforming your business in a brand. Now, one may think that ‘hey that’s do-able enough, why seek the professionals for it?’ Well, yes branding is do-able but it may take several years to arrive on a concoction of messaging and visuals that work. It requires good amount of research. It includes surveying the market-space where the business will take place, identifying, strategising and implementing a brand position and approach to the business. This process lets the business stand out from the competition current today. There are nooks and corners and strategies involved in this process that not all are aware of.
It’s thus, preferable to take help from professionals than attempting to do it on your own with no assured guarantee of success. It can lead to wastage of time and efforts, a heavy bid to make while bringing forth a start-up. Remember, a well-managed and well-protected brand becomes valuable intellectual property asset in a business in no time and can dramatically increase the commercial value of the business.
So what all is included in Branding?
Typically, it is a five key protocol.
Initially, a Market Research is undertaken to study and understand the business’s current market; it includes going through the history of the same, getting updated about the on-going trends, identifying the possible competitors and getting informed about the global incidences that may affect the business.
Now comes the part of testing the waters. For this, a Brand Analytics Profile of the business, a model and position are created based upon this research and business study. They provide a clear representation of what the business offers, in what all ways the business delivers it; all in all what it would mean for their customers and partners. It also helps the entrepreneur to have a vision regarding his business & accordingly craft a mission for it.
Keeping the vision and mission as a guiding light, Brand Identity creation/development creatively follows which includes name, tagline, and corporate identity development, internal branding and brand architecture.
For further impact, appropriate Brand Communication through various printed marketing collaterals (brochures, pamphlets, hoardings, standees, invitations etc.), packaging, website, online/offline promotional campaigns, and advertising are developed.
And last but not the least, appropriate communication medium needs to be chosen. This is typically known as media planning. Media planning plays an extremely important role in defining marketing budget of the company. Most of the times, in spite of a good brand message, a poor media planning adversely impacts the sales & company’s financial growth.
In theory, it may come across as a tad frightening process, but it is rather fun and stimulating! Also, at the end of the day, nothing beats watching your brand reach the heights you desire!
