Branding was and is a psychological process and always will be. But now we also talk about the philosophy of branding?
Why not? It is a limitless concept and so is it’s philosophy. No, This is not about the fundamentals of philosophy and philosophers to find nuances about the concept of branding, we are going to talk about the part where brand strategists say, branding is everywhere, is everything and is for everyone.
The world today
The world today has become a global village, only that this entire village is at Times Square, constantly being exposed to brand communications wherever the eyes go.
The world is full of infinite choices, and that is not just in your restaurant menu, it is also when you are in a supermarket and two aisles are full of soap choices. Even to think you have the first move advantage is blasphemy. A monopoly is utopian.
Branding matters
Does your shoe motivate you to do anything? Does your non-alcoholic energy drink help you fly?
No? Well, then you are not wearing your Nike sneakers while you sip on your RedBull.
Branding makes sure you deserve the price you are demanding while you make a consumer feel that they deserve your product. It’s a perfect win-win.
Branding has evolved so much that everyone has their own definition of it, based on their understandings and experiences. For some, it is all about the visuals, for some, it is entirely strategy and for the rest, it is both and more. But for all of them, it is unavoidable. So much so that a brand-free interaction is practically not possible.
Everyone needs or has a brand?
Brands that brand, businesses that don’t, and brands that brand themselves brandless, in the end, all undergo the branding process or some part of it.
Let’s compare aspects of a person with an entity pertaining to aspects of branding.
There are multiple commonalities in how branding functions and the art of being a human. The most important one being emotions and feelings. Products are not addictive (obviously not cigarettes though.) What makes a customer loyal towards your brand is something more innate. A lot of customer buying behavior is based purely on that gut feeling. It is the emotion attached to your offering. Trust along with quality forms the best brand.
Starting out
Not enough emphasis is put on the fact that startups and entrepreneurial ventures need branding more. For a fact, the branding process, when adopted from the beginning, gives better results, a stronger brand because a creative agency will get an opportunity to work on an empty slate.
You don’t need statistics to know that investors are attracted to businesses that have already branded their idea more than a business that puts out an elevator pitch that is only about how they plan to make money. All of this adds to the importance of branding, especially if you are a startup or if your business is a part of the SME and MSME sphere.
On unaffordability
‘Only big names can afford to brand their business’ is a meaningless statement because the big names became big because they underwent the branding process.
You don’t brand after you become a big brand. You brand to make your business a big brand.
Neither is marketing a substitute for branding, nor branding for marketing. They are complementary. When you choose to invest in marketing because it pays off, it is at the expense of a long term investment called branding.
If you do want to consider branding but don’t know where to start, the following questions can give you a headstart:
• What is our offering
• What makes us different
• How do we stand out
• What do our customers want
• Where is the gap in the market
If you are unclear on even one of the above questions, the branding process can help you better. Because brandlessness is a matter of choice.
The Brandless™ claim
With innumerable brands and the constant need to do something different has become impossible. Everyone has a story and everyone wants to tell their story while they sell their product.
Brandless™, No Name® are two anti-branding brands who have conveniently created brands without the traditional principles of branding. Has it worked for them? Well, they got free publicity here, didn’t they? What we are sure of is that these brands are brands.
If you are deciding and executing based on the way you want to be perceived, it is branding; just with a different approach.
The actually brandless are the ones who actually seem without a brand. They are very easy to recognize (oh the irony) The ones who are devoid of a brand are the ones that function without a foundational promise, a unique proposition, target audience, and reason for loyalty. Basically, these are the businesses that have one function — transactions. They give you a product for a price.
The 3 E’s: everywhere, everything, everyone
So then, is everything branding?
We wish for such a utopia.
Is everything branded?
Sure.
Branding is not a replacement for the sales and marketing department. It is more an element that reinforces the efforts put by these departments by making them more effective.
Who are Slangbusters? What is Slangbusters? We are a branding studio that aims towards a world without jargon. We are in the industry to make sure business owners are not devoid of the opportunity to be a part of their own brand, through an intrinsic part of branding (and probably every human transaction, ever) — clear communication. It is as basic as it is commonly ignored.
— by Manas, Content Strategist, Slangbusters Studio
