Branding

In another article, The Place of SEO in Internet Marketing, I stated my belief that most good marketing revolves around brand building. Soon after it went online, several discussions questioned the idea of branding, and the value of branding. In this article I hope to address many of those questions.

Defining Branding

Part of the problem is the numerous, contradictory definitions of brand and branding.

Some say.....

Branding is an association, created in the mind of a potential buyer, between a particular make of product and a desired characteristic.

A brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer.

A brand is the most valuable real-estate in the world, a corner of the consumer's mind.

A set of assets (or liabilities) linked to a brand's name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a product or service.

A name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.

Your brand resides within the hearts (feelings) and minds (intellect) of your customers and prospects. It is the sum total of their (product, company and competitive) experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some you cannot.

Brand is the customer experience.

I define branding as securing a unique position of credibility in the consumer mind.

Muddled Meanings

Branding, as a concept and as a word, is confused and undefined more often than not.

Many writers speak of brand, when they are actually talking about fame. Others speak of brand, when they should be saying "public relations". And some use the word "brand" synonymously with "trademarks."

A trademark does not make or break a brand; public relations has less to do with brand than pricing does; and fame is not the end all, be all of branding.

Let me demonstrate...
Yahoo! is famous. Yahoo! offers web hosting. Yahoo! is a web hosting brand?

I think not.

Walmart is a famous general merchandise retailer. Walmart has a website on the good ole' Internet. So is Walmart an Internet brand?

Not at the moment.

Brands Require Positioning

The statement, Yahoo! is a great brand, has no meaning whatsoever. Yahoo! offers web hosting, auctions, news, email, domain names, games and a host of other services.

Yet, when you think of web hosting, do you think of Yahoo! web hosting? Not many people consider Yahoo! a hosting brand.

And eBay is the auction brand; CNN is the news brand; NetworkSolutions is the domain brand.

Brand in Action

Sandals
Many people, including myself, buy Cole Haan sandals from Nordstom because they trust the Cole Haan name, and the Nordstrom name. They cost a pretty penny, but many people wouldn't even think of buying look-alike sandals elsewhere. It's a trust issue.

Water
I could get water anywhere. The spiggot outside; the tap in the kitchen; but we buy Evian. Why? We trust the water is clean. In short, trust.

Beds
You could buy a no-name mattress set for $199. But we often choose Stearns and Foster for $4,799.

Why? It's not like we show guests the brand-name mattress. And, believe it or not, I prefer to save money.

I trust Stearns and Foster. Stearns and Foster has credibility. Stearns and Foster has brand.

Dedicated Servers
A 512MB/60GB Hard Drive/700GB Bandwidth/RedHat Linux 9.0 server rents for $49.95.

But ServerBeach does more business while charging double the price. Why? ServerBeach is a name you can count on; ServerBeach has credibility; ServerBeach has brand.

Branding Increases Profitability

Water is free. Water + Brand costs $1.50 per pint.

A pound of coffee costs $4.17/lb . That same amount of coffee, plus the Starbucks brand, costs $9.95.

A can of cola costs 25 cents. A can of cola plus brand costs $1.00 or even $1.25.

No-name SEO costs you $199. Brand name SEO costs you $3,000 minimum.

Brand Is Perception

A company branded as "the best buy in town" does not need to actually be the best buy in town. It simply needs to maintain the appearance of the best buy in town.

Sony has a reputation for high quality electronics. Many repairmen may tell you that Sony is junk, but it wouldn't do much damage to the brand because it is already established in the public's mind as high quality electronics.