Branding builds business . . . and bolsters your company’s image
Think quickly! Don’t blink. Say the first thing that comes to your mind when you think:
When most consumers see these words, their thoughts dart immediately to familiar products. They picture brown, bubbly drinks, colorful boxes of tissue or mouth-watering Big Macs. Next, their memories transport them to people, places or things associated with these products. Coke may put its drinkers on the bleachers at a Little League baseball game, take them strolling down the midway at a county fair, or find them relaxing in the back yard with a hot dog and an ice-cold drink. Kleenex probably reminds people to stock up on cold-season supplies before school starts, and McDonald’s golden arches seem to appear out of nowhere to breakfast-skippers on their way to work.
After numerous nation-wide taste tests, Coca-Cola is still King. Thanks to its branding efforts, Coke is still Number One, outselling its nearest competitor 2 to 1. Coke, Kleenex and McDonald’s are all brands no one ever forgets. If you want your company name to pop into people’s heads whenever they need products or services, add branding to your marketing plan.
If you want your company to be first in the minds of potential customers, start using branding strategies.
Every highly recognized and respected company spends time, money and effort putting their brand into the public brain – and keeping it there. Most business leaders realize that branding pays off when they hear customers calling all nose-blowing tissues Kleenex and all carbonated soft drinks Coke. They recognize the power of branding as McDonald’s is the first name to slip off the lips of anyone discussing fast food, including critics. A brand has staying power when the public substitutes its name for other similar products on the market. The art of branding is simply making your company name synonymous with your product or service. If you want people to think of your company before any others, you need to set yourself apart from your competition and become market leaders or pacesetters in your field.
Do small companies need to brand?
Branding makes large corporations big market leaders, but do small, local companies need to market their brands? Yes! If you want to make your company’s name a household word, work on branding. Yes! If you’d like your business to be first to come to mind when someone needs an oil change, an antique dealer, a bushel of organic tomatoes or any other product or service, you need to work on branding your business.
Branding makes your company name synonymous with your products or services.
Hudsonville Ice Cream, for example, is a West Michigan favorite, rapidly gaining steam elsewhere. Loyal customers will tell you to buy Hudsonville while you’re standing in the freezer aisle trying to decide what flavor you want. Branding has also helped link ArtPrize, an outdoor art competition, to the city of Grand Rapids. Branding is what set ArtPrize and Grand Rapids, Michigan, apart from all other downtown street fairs. It draws bigger crowds every year. Through thoughtful and deliberate branding strategies, this newcomer is making a name across the country as a major fall tourist attraction.
Branding can make your company a major attraction in your own neighborhood and help you draw in new customers, too. For expert advice on branding and other image-building strategies, contact CIS Agency at service@wearecis.com, call 616.347.6300 or visit the CIS Website