Comments on: What Is The Essence of Branding?

By: dapo akintoye

dapo akintoye — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:29:45 +0000

i have come to understand that since you influence the perceptioin of your brand, it has a lot to do with what it is you are saying that people hear, but much more with what it is you are not saying that people hear as well

By: Fred Schebesta

Fred Schebesta — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 03:27:15 +0000

There is a very interesting follow up argument to this post taking place here: http://www.onlinemarketingsydney.com.au/2006/11/online-branding-in-21st-century.html

By: Seeds of Growth

Seeds of Growth — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 14:03:24 +0000

Donâ€™t Advertise To This Guy!…

Evidence of the power of remarkable brands, but also the advertising overload that is the current marketplace. How do customers feel about your brand?
I was checking my emails today and a friend of mine sent me a link to a BBC article about a guy who…

By: Todd And - The Power to Connect

Todd And - The Power to Connect — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:23:41 +0000

[...] Small Business Branding [...]

By: Rajan Sodhi

Rajan Sodhi — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 01:55:42 +0000

Nick, I agree with all your points. So often people mistaken a logo design as branding, rather than just a visual representation of a brand. To make a brand effective, businesses need to define what their brand stands for, what their value proposition is and what beliefs they would like the marketplace to have of their brand. Then, they need to stay consistent with those beliefs by living their brand in everything they do.

By: Nick Rice

Nick Rice — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:56:37 +0000

Carol, you’re right on. A huge component of a strong brand is consistency. A lot depends on your offering. You can go to Starbucks three of four times a day – not to mention using their product at home and in the office. So it’s easy to get a quick (and consistent) impression of them. Other offerings like care dealerships only see the same customer once every 2-5 years. So they have to put a lot of emphasis on an outstanding experience to have you remember them next time.

Great comment!

By: carol

carol — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:52:25 +0000

One last comment to add to the above – branding, in many cases, will take time. Marketers cannot “create brand awareness” in a month or two or six. It is created by day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year attention to the business. We live in an “instant” society. We are told that results must be immediate or close to it. Building a brand – a successful brand- does take time. But, the longer the brand sits in the minds of consumers, the harder it is to knock it out.

By: Nick Rice

Nick Rice — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:19:31 +0000

Tony, Rosanna, Golfers,

You’re all right! Brand is about your companys/products/services reputation. Like I said in the post, you cannot totally control it, you can only work to keep it inline with your vision.

Golfer, I love your last statement. The little things make the biggest difference to customers. It’s going above and beyond their expectations to delight them. Just meeting their expectation is not where you need to stop. That’s just the minimum. True brand development happens when users are overjoyed by their experience. That’s when they remember you and recommend you.

Preference leads to loyalty which leads to refferals & profits

By: GolfersWired

GolfersWired — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 20:31:34 +0000

Branding is about image, whether it be the visual image of your company or the image of your company’s reputation. PayPal for example, has an incredible brand in the since of name recognition and visual image, but reputation wise it has struggled with their ability to provide excellent support. This has negatively impacted there brand image and ultimiately has left them vulnerable to companies such as Google who have a positive brand and are entering into their space. Bottom line is everything you do impacts your brand, even the little things!

By: Rosanna Tussey

Rosanna Tussey — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 16:33:26 +0000

You are right- branding is not optional. It’s really a matter of brand or get branded. Like you say, it’s best to be in the position of control.

By: Tony Quinlan

Tony Quinlan — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:32:48 +0000

Nick, Interesting piece. A colleague of mine defines brand as “a shortcut to a decision” – and in terms of how we think, that amounts to a recognisable pattern or story.

The pattern that’s created in customers and prospects minds cumulatively as a result of every interaction and contact with our product or service. And, with any story, there has to be a sense of ongoing movement and progression appropriate to their expectations. So if you start well, make sure you finish well, or your brand will suffer more than if you had started badly in the first place.