People confuse branding with a logo or they think branding may be a matter of making a web site, ads, and great marketing messages. But branding is far quite any of that.

A logo isn’t a brand. A logo is simply a logo that represents a brand. Your brand is what people trust and believe you symbolize not about how you look, say or sell.

Your brand lives in consumer minds, it’s about developing consumer beliefs and perceptions that are in alignment with what you would like your brand to be.

What a brand do?

Brands gain consumer trust and emotional attachments. As a result, they create relationships between consumers and products. A good brand isn’t just known and trusted, is loved.

Brands make selling easier

Even if you sell products to consumers, investment opportunities, job opportunities, freelance or consulting services, or ideas, a brand lead off for achievement by building positive awareness of your unique promise before you ever present your sales proposition.

When people are alert to your brand and its unique and positive personality, they understand what you represent and what unique value they’ll reckon. As a result, when it comes time to form a buying deal, brand owners can consider the wants of the buyer.

Without positive brand awareness, you’ve got to make a case for the values you deliver every single time. While brand owners are closing the sale, those without strong brands are still introducing themselves.

Brands build equity

Brands that are chosen by consumers deliver an extended list of business benefits that translate to higher sales, higher profit margins, and better owner value. Consider these brand advantages as proof:

• People are willing to pay more to shop for brands that they believe deliver outstanding and desirable benefits.
• Consumers stay loyal to brands, buying them more often, in greater volume, and without the necessity for promotional incentives.
• Retailers provide brands greater store visibility because they know that brands drive sales and lead to higher store revenues.
• Brand owners can grow their businesses by leveraging their brands into product and line extensions instead of having to introduce new products from scratch.
• Brand owners find it easier to draw in and retain good employees because applicants believe the standard of the workplace supported advance knowledge of the caliber of the brand.
• Brand owners run more efficient operations because they align decisions with the mission, vision, and values that underpin the brand promise.
• Brand owners enjoy increased market share, increased investor support, and increased company value.

Why Bother with Branding?

To brand or to not brand?. This question hangs within the air until people that aren’t quite sure about whether or not they actually need a brand hear this truth:

“More than the other quality — even over strong financial statements, great management, or terrific product or service ideas — brands are the key to winning long-term growth and success.”

By building a brand, you have got a powerful, clear vision of what you symbolize. During a world of comparable choices, branding differentiates and elevates your offering, paving the way for awareness, preference, selection, and profitability.

Source: Branding for Dummies, 2nd Edition, BILL CHIARAVALLE, BARBARA FINDLAY SCHENCK