Corporate Branding: How to Add Value to a Brand
A Coca-Cola Executive once famously said, “If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its production-related assets in a disaster, the company would survive. By contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business.” This sentiment, along with the overwhelming brand recognition of Coca-Cola in support, definitively shows just how important corporate branding can be to a product or company.
The argument that it is as important as the product itself is compelling, with the idea that consumers consider the identity of a product over its quality posing a very feasible reality. Essentially, a brand is a set of associations that a person, or group of people, makes with a company, service, product, or individual. The benefits to corporate branding are numerous and well-proven, as the relationship between strong brand identity and a loyal consumer is as strong as ever.
Brand Recognition
With a consistent, coherent, and effective identity, a brand can achieve instant recognition. More than just providing distinction, the most effective corporate branding can instill in a product, service, or company a sense of its very own personality. By developing a distinct and succinct value proposition within its branding, be it in your corporate signage on shop fronts, or display graphics on websites, an organization can play its advantages to the fullest, whilst developing a level of trust and loyalty with its consumer.
The relentless increase in e-commerce has only served to increase the importance of brand recognition; the potential for developing a corporate identity within a website is infinitely superior to that of a simple shop or catalog. Furthermore, the rise of web-based activity saw a power shift to the consumer, who now expects more for less, and is prepared (and able) to tell the world should they not get it.
Creating Difference
The ease of accessibility that came with the Internet boom brought with it a drastic increase in brand names. It has never been more important for an organization to play on its strengths through its corporate branding. What makes this brand stand out from the rest? What will the consumer get from this organization that it won’t get from any other? Intrinsic to this is the opportunity to display not just the uniqueness of the product, but also the values of the organization. This is what will ultimately win the consumer’s trust and continued custom. The power of corporate branding not only makes a company significantly more visible but fuels its evolution into a brand that people know they can rely on. With this strength of the product and a high level of professionalism through all channels of customer communication, the brand will quickly earn what all companies want most from their consumers.
Loyalty and Trust
Whereas a great slogan or attractive sign can win customers in the short term, a combination of corporate branding strategies and product strength will keep them in the long term. It gives the customer both the incentive and the need, to continue the relationship. Association is what will keep people coming back time and time again, which is what effective corporate branding, at its very best, can achieve.
