Going through the process of branding, companies spend a lot of time on the way their business should look to the world. The name, the logo and fancy words aren’t the only thing that encapsulates branding.
As a subject it is confused by many businesses with marketing activities. But it is a different branch altogether and needs to be tended to in a certain way. Through this branch, we as a business can generate a trust with our customers and can provide them with a value proposition. A business might think that a branding mistake cannot be that harmful but in a way it does if the contingents to the repercussions are not placed.
Below are some common branding mistakes that can take your brand downhill if not tended to smartly:
Wrong perception –
This may very well be the pivotal mistake the Indian companies make when they think about branding.
It is assumed by most companies that branding means the brand name, logo, advertising and other print communication. But what the companies need to understand is that these are not what branding embodies, in fact branding is a whole different picture.
It consists of all the major functioning that represents the brand, it is the purpose, the customer experience, the engagement, to name a few.
To be able to connect with the customers, it is important for the brands to recognize the important branding codes and apply them in harmony with their brand concept and brand story. The only limit is your imagination of how far up you want to take your brand by creating engaging elements on the various consumer touch-points.
Expecting quick results from the branding strategies –
This process of branding is like nurturing a child, we help it grow step by step. And as the brand takes new steps into the market, we evolve our branding strategies that suit best to the brand. You cannot expect your baby to be a world class runner since his first day in the world!
You are probably delusional if you think that’s how things work. The child needs to grow, be fed with and taught things and over the time, only then he will develop into something that you aspire him to be.
Brands need to understand that the process of branding and communicating their brand to the consumers is not a one-time thing, it is a process that takes a long time to build relationships with the prospective customer by engaging at the right moments with them. It is not a security of sales returns as and when the branding tools are employed.
Branding is an evolving process specific to every single brand concept. It is not one iron-clad step manual for every brand.
Branding is an asset to the company not a product.
Brand image is directly related to the likability of our brand –
With the market now dominated by human emotions more than ever, it is important for a brand to form a connection and trust with the consumers through the right engagement at the right touch-points. It is important to understand the consumers first and know what influences them and work on it in order to relate better with them.
Loyalty is what every brand aspires to have from their customer base. A solid passion and likability for a brand goes a long way in terms of the business it is going to with its clients. As a branding agent, we need to make sure that we have the right following to form the foundation of our business that will eventually lead to more market share in later stages as it grows.
This is where a brand image and likability make sense. To the eyes of a good branding agent, all the important human aspects make sense when they formulate strategies for branding.
Getting too attached to your brand idea –
When you start a brand, it is understandable that you have an idea in which you see your brainchild, but it is important not to get attached to it so much so, that it leads to any negative outcomes.
It may be possible that what you aspire to do and represent may change over the time as you get to know better about your abilities in the business and what works for you. A lot of brands make that mistake of sticking to the idea when it began and resist themselves to the inevitable changes in the market and taste preference of consumer that fluctuate often than they think.
This happens because certain branding agents don’t know the importance of evolving as per the consumer demand. Yes, keeping the brand DNA intact is an important thing.
But changes in branding strategies are like changing clothes to suit for certain occasion. You change clothes as per the place, but the personality and approach are a thing that is a constant in the process and that is what makes a brand unique in the eyes of the consumers.
Not starting with the reason WHY? –
To form a better branding strategy, a brand first needs to know why they are providing their product to the market and then communicate this to their prospective consumers with the right engaging strategy.
For any brand, to be able to penetrate the market right with their product offering, they first need to map the industry. Understand what options the consumers have and then decide WHY the consumers will choose their product over other options in the market. Till the time the audience doesn’t know why you are here in the market and what you have in it for them, they won’t even consider investing their time in your brand. It is all about creating your own niche while carefully monitoring the competition. From the name to the story and concept, everything needs to be unique and engaging.
Example: In a market which is dominated by the company Apple, you can still sell your products under another company name that is originated from a fruit, you just need to think of the WHY and communicate that in the best way possible to the prospective consumers. Don’t just hit a fluke and try to just get over with the branding tool. Think strategically
Like we said before, branding is a process and you need to nurture your brand in this journey with what is best for it.
