7 BRANDING TOOLS TO EFFECTIVELY ESTABLISH YOUR BRAND
Do you know about all the current branding tools or ways of marketing your Brand today?
What do you think are the latest branding tools?
Every new brand needs to go through the initial stages of an establishment to make their target audience aware of the various products or services that they offer.
It is not as easy as it looks on paper.
The strategy is easy to be formulated in theory, but way harder to be executed correctly.
Every brand creates its branding and marketing strategy, but at times, what they do not understand is not to go the same failed path as other brands.
The most important aspect of any branding or marketing strategy is to do in-depth research.
Research can be done on the following factors:
- Brand Industry
- Target Audience
- Area of Establishment
- Potential Consumers
- Expectations from the brand
- Quality of products or services
- Rules and Regulations
Also, many other factors that will help the brand to avoid failures.
Have you implemented any branding tools yet?
The Essential Branding Tools
Many Marketing and Branding Tools can be used in their brand establishment, such as;
- AUDIO BRANDING
The latest path to branding is audio branding.
Audio or ‘sonic’ Branding enables a company to have a recognizable sound attached to its name.
It allows the user to know a brand without even seeing it.
It is not an easy task to accomplish because many factors are needed to be considered before giving your brand a sound of its own, such as:
- Type of Brand
- Industry Catered to
- Lyrics
- Target Audience
Copyright Issues
Is there a brand that you know form its sound?
Ring any bells?
You need to understand that if you give any particular sound to your brand, then your brand will be associated with it.
So, if it is a bad sound, it stays there forever.
The brand needs to answer the following questions before specifying a tone to it like:
- What does it brand stand for?
- What are the attractive differentiations that can lure the customers?
- What is the sound of the competitors and how is it different & unique?
The proprietary sound shall convey meaning about the mission of the brand to let the customers know why they shall choose you over others.
You need to check if the music is up to date or not because it might portray as the products or services are obsolete of offensive to any culture or caste.
Related Post: Top 10 Biggest Branding Mistakes to Avoid
The following brands are the best examples of audio branding:
- 20th Century Fox
- McDonalds
- Intel
- MGM
- Yahoo
- Nokia
Audio Branding can be used to compliment the visual representation.
It taps on two of the human senses and increases the chances of brand recognition.
The customers are just like us; they buy what they see and hear, and a catchy jingle could result in a significant improvement in the sales of the brand.
It gives the brand a chance to be remarkable and distinctive at every point of contact.
Audio branding goes far beyond jingles or licensing popular music; it gives an audio identity to the brand.
It is better than video branding because the customer does not need to see the name to know it is there; the brand is established in their mind.
Slogans and radio ads are part of audio branding!
2. VIDEO BRANDING
After the invention of the camera and then the internet, video branding is the most used tool of branding because it allows the brand to express its objectives in the most subtle manner.
There is no limit to video branding because it accommodates audio as well as visual content, which enables more reception in the minds of the customers.
As mentioned above, video content is boundless and can be used for many purposes like the following:
- It allows the brand to showcase its products or services
- It acts as a platform to convey messages and values
- It can be used to communicate with the customer’s directly
- It can be used as tutorials for a more convenient use of products and services.
- It helps the brand to tap into different genres of mindsets and capture all alike.
The most loved aspect of video branding is the fact that it can market what the brand wants, directly to the customers.
You can control the length, content and everything else according to the message that needs to be conveyed.
Television advertisements and web are part of video branding!
3. VISUAL BRANDING
Visual Branding is the logo design, poster designs, pamphlets and other visual textual content that helps the brand to enable customers to identify it.
It is the first thing that catches the eye of the client and as it has fits the adage, “The first impression is the last impression”.
It means that it is important to have a good first impression so that the customers can identify the brand by looking at the logo design or the colour combinations used.
Related Post: Charity Branding Tips – A Logo Design Guide For Nonprofits
The following can express the above in a better fashion:
- When you see a big yellow ‘M’, the first thought that comes to the mind is McDonald’s.
- When you see a half-eaten apple, the first thought is Apple inc.
- When you see a jaguar symbol, the first though is the jaguar car company.
All these examples show how important it is for a brand to have eye-catching visuals and a slogan, to help the customers to identify them.
Every element that you ‘see’ of a brand is considered to be the visual representation, even the videos.
The fact that video branding is a different point here is because the viewers will understand the importance of logo design and other collateral, which help a brand in its initial stages.
The logo and slogan are considered to be the two most important elements of brand establishment and require maximum focus.
The name is recognized and accepted with its logo and slogan, especially in its initial stages.
Try to think of how many brands you identify with the help of just their logo design?
4. CONTENT MARKETING
Content Marketing is everything that a brand uses to express its objectives; from textual content to video content and audio content to visual content.
Everything that you see or hear about the brand is content, and if it is directed properly, it can be used to increase sales and establish the brand globally.
All of the above points are a part of content marketing.
If properly used; it can be beneficial for the brand to make its customers aware of the different products and services, exclusive sales and queries to enable a smooth consumer experience and a boost in sales.
There are many companies which offer website design and development or 360-degree digital marketing services like social media optimization, PPC advertisements, website optimization and SEO services.
Some companies offer affordable SEO packages which include SEO, SMO, PPC, website optimization and reviews, to enable brands to utilize these services.
Do you understand the different parts of content marketing?
5. BRAND ACTIVATION
It is referred to as the live stalls at various locations, which allows the brand to communicate with the customers on a one-to-one basis i.e. live events.
It can be used to solve queries, share information about new products or services and promote the brand, as a whole.
It is a comprehensive branding tool, usually practiced in malls and events, where the audience is the brand’s target audience.
Examples of activations are as follows:
- T-shirts & accessories outside concerts
- Book Expos
- Food stalls in college events & concerts
- Services stalls in corporate events
Related Post: How to create a successful lifestyle brand
Visited a live booth and bought anything?
6. EVENT BRANDING
There is much hype created alongside events because of the scale that it gives to a brand.
Brands sponsor events to market their names and products to the masses with the help of event marketing.
It allows the customers to have a live entertaining experience and simultaneously be part of a particular brand or a group of businesses.
Events are of different types, such as:
- Concerts
- Festivals
- Corporate Events
- Seminars
- Conferences
- Plays
- Parties
You can distribute your products at these events in live stalls, give them a taste of the brand and even share information about different products or services with the help of marketing materials.
The customers see the brand in a positive light because of the fun experience that they have in the event, which helps the brand to lure them in to boost sales and create its identity.
Have you been part of an event yourself?
7. WORD OF MOUTH
Your brand is established when other people are talking (positively) about it.
Word of mouth promotion is considered to be one of the best and most useful forms of branding because it is more credible and the content goes viral on its own.
It costs negligible amount of money but can result in millions of dollars of sales.
All of the above points act as a catalyst, which later result in this form of promotion.
It can be directed to boost sales and increase brand awareness, but it is hard to initiate because it requires customers to like the name or its content genuinely and willfully share it on different platforms to communicate the brand’s message further.
There is no perfect tool to exploit and achieve quick brand establishment, but the combination of above tools help significantly with the process.
It is like a recipe; all elements are as important as each individually.
The perfect mixture gives the perfect result.
Formulate a Branding and Marketing strategy and try all now!
Many entrepreneurs do not understand the power of branding and why one of the heir most important early tasks is to build their brand. For most organizations, their brand or reputation is their most important single asset.
Entrepreneurs must be thinking about building their brand even before they receive funding and make their business ideas reality. Their brand is their presence in their customers’ minds and if they have no brand, they have no presence in the market place.
Brand-building must begin immediately with the start of the business. To build a successful brand takes time-perhaps five or six years – and the sooner one begins, the sooner one will obtain he returns from a well-designed and well-communicated brand.
NEED FOR A BRAND
As an entrepreneur, you have many things on your mind. IS my business idea good enough? Can I obtain financing? Where will I locate? Will I use the internet? Who should I hire? How can I put together a business plan?
With all those important questions seeking your attention, it is sometimes difficult to think of developing your brand. Selecting a brand requires reflection and thought and building a brand requires patience, discipline, and time. Often branding is overlooked in the excitement and chaos of the start-up period.
Not spending time thinking about your brand when you are beginning your business may cost you a lot more time – and money – later.
Beginning your brand-building early helps your business in two ways:
- You save money and time on your brand-building because you make you of all your customer contacts from the very start. When you begin your business, you will be marketing your business – you might as well make sure all your marketing efforts support your brand from the beginning. That will help build your brand more quickly.
- You save money and effort by not having to develop or change your brand position later. In particular, if your early marketing activities do not build a clear brand position, you will need eventually to do that brand-building work. Even more difficult, if your early marketing activities have somehow create a perception of your brand that you do not want, then you will have to undo that brand impression and then build the brand position that you do not want.
As my friend, aphorist Ashleigh Brilliant has observed, it costs money to make money but it shouldn’t cost more than you make so anyway you can save is important. Branding allows you to leverage the position of your venture to a wide variety of audiences-not only customers but also the financial community and others whom you may wish to impress favorably. It is never too early to begin thinking about your branding.
Because building a brand requires consistency over time, you should start your brand-building when you start your company. In particular, you should decide on your brand position when you are developing your business plan.
You should start your brand-building when you start your company
Associations are strong when there is a quick connection between the identifier and the attributes. For an entrepreneur, this is a major challenge. Because the entrepreneur is probably starting a company not yet known, they must develop the associations for their brand.
