Introduction To Branding
Branding: The Catalyst for Successful Business Growth
Think about the last time you
went shopping. Let’s suppose you needed to buy coffee. You walked into the
coffee aisle, scanned shelf after shelf of different types of coffee, grabbed
one and walked away.
I bet there were at least half a
dozen different brands of coffee represented on those shelves. So, let me ask
you, how did you choose that particular brand of coffee?
Was there salesman standing in
the aisle trying to persuade you to purchase one brand over the other? Was
there someone barking at you like a carnival worker, trying to get your
attention?
Of course not.
Chances are, you chose a
particular kind of coffee because you trusted the brand. Maybe it was Folgers or Starbucks or Eight O’clock
coffee or Maxwell House… or whatever your favorite brand is. But the point is,
no one sold you on buying a particular product right there in the coffee aisle.
Instead, you were presold before you ever arrived at the grocery store, because
the company had done a fine job of building their brand.
Buying coffee is just one
example. Take a look around at your life, and you’ll quickly discover that
branding plays an important role in many of your buying decisions. And it’s not
just you – your friends, your colleagues, your family and yes… even your
prospects and customers — all factor in branding when making their buying
decisions.
People buy from those they know,
like and trust. And the only way to build up this sort of trust is by building
up your brand.
Now here’s the crazy thing…
The brand that people are buying
may not even be the best solution. But people like to buy brands with which
they’re familiar. They trust them. They know what kind of experience they’ll get
when they use a trusted brand.
Imagine for a moment that you’re
traveling on the highway, and you get hungry. You see “Bob’s Fast Food
Hamburger Shack” sitting right next to the golden arches.
Do I even need to tell you what
restaurant sports the golden arches? If
you said McDonalds, you’re right. And that’s just further proof that branding
words. Even small children can spot the
golden arches on the highway and start screaming for cheeseburgers.
Now… with all else being equal,
and assuming you’re looking for fast food and not gourmet dining, there’s a
good chance you’re going to go to McDonalds rather than Bob’s Hamburger shack.
That’s because you know what to expect, since McDonalds has built up their
brand recognition and a reputation for food that is fast and cheap.
How about another example…
Think about an online auction
site – which one comes to mind first?
Probably eBay. They’ve built
their branding so well that most people don’t even think of other auction
sites.
How about a search engine?
I bet you thought of Google, or
maybe Bing or Yahoo. Again, that’s the power of branding.
Point is branding is an
incredibly powerful way to increase your sales over the long term…
When you build a strong brand, you build trust.
When you build a strong brand,
you develop “top of mind” awareness.
When you build a strong brand,
people buy from you simply because they recognize your brand… and because
they’ve associated good feelings with your brand.
A lot of struggling
entrepreneurs don’t even think about branding, which is probably one of the
reasons why they’re struggling so much. Still others spend time thinking about
branding, but they think branding is about picking out a slogan and a logo with
pretty colors.
That’s a mistake. Branding is
much bigger than that. And branding is such an important part of a company’s
success that serious business owners invest a lot of time and/or a lot money
into developing a solid brand. What’s more, companies that have been around for
any amount of time often freshen their brand simply because they know how
important it is to change with the times.
Let me give you a few examples
of how companies have branded themselves or freshened their brand…
· Avis used to be the second car rental company in
the world, right behind Hertz. As part of their branding, they developed the
slogan “We Try Harder.” This new branding slogan was considered a triumphant
success and was used for 50 years.
· Apple, Inc used to officially be called Apple
Computers. However, this name didn’t reflect their business strategy, as Apple
was moving into tablets, smart phones and other gadgets. Thus, Apple changed
their name in order to capture a bigger market share. Did it work? You bet it
did — just think about the popularity of iPhones and iPads.
Point is branding is really a
pretty big deal. And if you want to dominate your industry, solidify your
long-term growth, and cement customer loyalty, then you need to pay attention
to branding.
The good news is that this
course will teach you everything you need to know about developing and refining
a bullet-proof brand that can crush the competition.
So, let’s get started by taking
a look at the DNA of branding.
I’ll see you in a moment in the
next module…
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