Branding, or in this case re-branding is currently on everyone’s lips.
The reason: one of the best known brands in the world – Twitter – is in the process of changing its identity.
In this blog we start at the beginning, i.e. What is a brand – what is branding?
There is much said about what a brand is:
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
- Seth Godin
If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.
- Howard Schultz
Brand is the sum total of how someone perceives a particular organization. Branding is about shaping that perception.
- Ashley Friedlein
Many small businesses don’t believe that developing a brand is relevant to them. However above quotes are just as applicable to a micro business as it is to a multinational company.
The fascinating thing about this, getting it right is based on many components and here are just three of them:
Business – definition, plan and marketing goals
Target market – it’s characteristics, likes, dislikes, needs, aspirations
Competitors – what does your business have or can create, that the competition doesn’t have or cannot create – Value proposition
A brand specialist can help define all, which is needed to create a brand and its elements, which can set a business apart from competitors, help grow the customer base and in turn profitability and longevity.
A logo is part of a brand; however, it is not THE BRAND and here is an example:
It is not the company’s logo, however, says everything about the brand - the ethos – the voice.
Examine your own personal thoughts, reaction, etc. when you look at above. What does it evoke, what does it tell you, how does it make you feel?
Although creating a brand is based on some tangible details, most elements needed for its creation, are intangible.
These elements are connected to perception - whether that may be colour, images, typeface/s, shapes and even the words used. They, put together in the right way, create an emotional response – a perception.
It takes deep knowledge, experience, creativity together with sound business understanding to create and define a brand for a business.
Rarely a truer word spoken than by Steve Forbes:
Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.
And, to answer the question you may have; this is the logo of the company, whose brand identity you have seen above.
This company had five permanent employees, when they contracted Konzepts to create their brand and brand strategy in 2020. Today Konzepts is still custodian of this brand, responsible for keeping it current, relevant for the company’s international audience. The company now employs over ten permanent staff and works with some of the biggest international companies in the market of biological pest management and control.
We hope you are looking forward to our next blog, which will look at re-branding.
It’ll cover the reasons for it, the pitfalls and the benefits of taking such a step.