What’s in a brand? Everything

From the biggest of global corporations to digital startups to indie retailers to white van sole traders, every business needs a brand.

Promoting a positive and professional image and a consistent identity across everything you do is vital. Your brand needs to be shine through on your website, your social media, and every single interaction you have with your customers, potential customers… indeed, the general public/entire world population.

So, no pressure there then...

What is a brand?

Before we do anything else, you need to understand what a brand actually is.

A brand is what makes you different and distinguishable from your competition. A brand is one of the ways you stand out.

A brand gives people a reason to choose you instead of any other business.

So, yes, a brand is everything.

Customers must see and feel your brand

A brand is something that your customers experience.

Coffee shop and fast food chains are good examples. A chain will have the same logo, colour palette, furniture and décor in all its branches. From the muzak playing in the background to the crockery/packaging used to serve the food and drinks and the uniforms that staff wear, it’s all part of experience.

It’s all part of the brand.

Alongside the smell of the coffee and the taste of the food, all of the above are things that the customer identifies about a business.

It’s what keeps customers loyal to a particular brand, even though there might be several similar chains nearby.

And if you own an independent coffee shop or restaurant, your brand is every bit as important (if not more so), if you are going to stand any chance of competing against the might of the global brand next door.

But it can be done.

How to be different when things are the same

Let’s look at water… Good old H2O. According to 2018 figures, 7.7 billion bottles of water are consumed in the UK each year. The UK bottled water industry is worth £2.4bn annually.

That’s some feat for a ‘product’ that we can just turn a tap on to get.

The global bottled water industry is estimated to grow to a massive $334bn by 2023.

You know those ‘eat well for less’ taste tests? When foodie connoisseurs are embarrassed when they can’t tell the difference between Aldi and Harrods caviar?

Okay, so that’s an exaggeration… but you know what I mean.

Well, imagine a taste test between brands of water. It would take a brave person who said they could identify particular brands from taste and sight alone, surely?

Bottled water is 500-1000 times more expensive than tap water

Yes, that’s right, some bottled water brands sell for 1000 x the price of water from a tap.

But, visit any supermarket and you will literally see half an aisle (or more) full of bottled water brands.

In one of the ‘big four’ supermarkets, you can get 6 x 1.5l bottles of Brand X for £3.00. Right next to it, Brand Y are selling 6 x 1.5l bottles for £4.25.

Nip across town to the ‘budget’ supermarket and you can pick 4 x 2l bottles for just 99p.

They’re all basically the same product but they do all offer some form of differentiation. Of course, for such a basic commodity the default differentiator for many consumers will be price.

But there wouldn’t be such a massive range of bottled waters on the market if there wasn’t room for them.

So, we see different minerals, sources, bottle tops, shapes and sizes, and logos emphasised - all promoting ‘the brand’.

And who could forget, Peckham Spring?!

In the future, no doubt, environmental issues will become a major aspect of branding in the water industry – canned water will replace bottled – but a similar kind of differentiation will continue.

Whether your business is just starting up and you need to create a brand from scratch, or you’re thinking about giving your business a makeover with a rebrand, there a few guiding principles that will help you along the way.

Look out for my 4 Step Cheat Sheet For Branding Your Businesswhich is coming in September.

In the meantime, get in touch with Mark Richards Writes to find out how I can help you with your business branding.

First published on LinkedIn