You don’t create it. You shape it.

You’ve probably heard the word branding used ad nauseam… but you may still wonder, what does it really mean? And, more importantly, why does it matter?

Some Historical Perspective

The concept of branding is not new. It has, however, gained new status in recent years as a buzzword for marketing everything from organizations to individuals. As is often the case, once a ‘new’ word starts to get used in more and more contexts, its meaning can begin to dilute, or even disappear.

Depending on your definition, branding has either been around since the 1990s… or for several thousand years.

Certainly, the term itself was coined relatively recently, and has gained prominence as organizations have begun to promote themselves in more strategic and comprehensive ways. However, there is no consensus on exactly when the practice was first put into practice.

Some experts, for example, believe the practice of branding actually dates back to the period immediately following the end of World War II, a time when the concept of branding quickly became both a reflection and a driver of the country’s rapidly-evolving social and economic dynamics. These changes included a booming market for consumer products, due to countless new households established by returning veterans and their spouses. Their expectations, in turn, aligned with the needs of manufacturers, who were eager to maintain their wartime production levels with new consumer goods. Meanwhile, on a converging path, television for the masses was soon to come into prominence, with all of its abilities to raise awareness and influence expectations and desires.

The challenge was that, in spite of these trends, many consumers still followed the frugal purchasing behaviors they had learned during the war. In response, companies began looking for more creative and effective ways to market their services to broader audiences. As a result, the period saw the birth of modern-day advertising and branding—even though the actual term branding was not generally recognized as a discipline unto itself until the 1990s.

Still others point to evidence suggesting that the same sensibilities that define modern-day branding have been around far longer. In the post-Civil War American West, for example, Texas rancher Samuel Augustus Maverick decided to purposefully not brand his own cattle, thus making them different from all other cattle at the time—creating what was arguably the first ‘anti-brand’ brand. Earlier, in the 1700s, Bass & Company (the British brewery) created what some believe was the world’s first trademark. And much earlier still, the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used the media of their day to create sales collateral and political advertisements.

Regardless of your definition of branding, and how long you believe the practice has been around, there continues to be much confusion about what brands and branding really are.

Brand Essence

Before trying to define branding, let’s start with the word brand itself. Contrary to what many people believe, it is neither a logo, nor graphic standards manual, nor website. It is all of these, and much, much more. Merriam-Webster’s defines brand as “a class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer; a characteristic or distinctive kind.” Wikipedia defines it as “a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity.” Both of these definitions are good, but I believe we need a slightly broader definition:

A brand is an individual’s experiential perception of every aspect of an entity, a product, a service, or a person, evoking an emotional response.

This expanded definition is meant to stress three key concepts:

First, experience is the brand. Organizations can compel people to act by evoking emotions through messaging, imagery, etc. However, if they don’t relate to an individual’s experience with the brand, the messaging and imagery becomes less meaningful, perhaps even meaningless. How many times have you been promised something by an organization, whether it’s a cup of coffee or a high-end professional service, only to be disappointed by what was actually delivered? You may or may not decide to give the product or service another try, but in either case, your perception of its brand is off to a bad start.

Second, an individual’s perception is reality. If an organization does not effectively shape and ‘live’ its brand, it’s up to consumers or clients to form their own perceptions. Ironically, the real power of a brand is that it lives within the individual’s mind. Often, an organization will adapt itself to what the perception of its brand is. Case in point: in 1994, Federal Express changed its name and logo identity to “FedEx.” This decision was made primarily because of the company’s desire to be seen as a more global organization, and also because it knew that its customers and employees were already truncating the five-syllable name to the shorter, more convenient two-syllable version. Instead of fighting this trend, the company smartly leveraged it.

Third, emotional response is essential to brand strength. The most effective brands do not just look cool or comforting. Instead, they make the person feel cool or comforted. In any branding endeavor, the goal should be to evoke an emotional response, which in turn forges an emotional bond with the customer or client. It is when this bond has been created that consumers become more receptive to your messaging, offer, or sales pitch—whether it’s for 10% off your product or service, a great rate on a new car loan, or some other product they just can’t do without.

Why Does Branding Matter?

Unless you can tie the shaping and leveraging of your brand to direct benefits, you may find it difficult to justify engaging in a branding communications campaign. Here are the primary reasons why branding matters:

• Positioning. As is true for individuals, companies can choose to be either reactive or proactive. Positioning—that is, the competitive ’space’ your company, product, or service occupies in the minds of your target audience—is critical. By choosing to be proactive, effectively shaping and leveraging your brand on a consistent basis, you gain control over how you’re perceived. As a result, you can more accurately steer your brand to achieve the exact positioning you desire.
• Awareness. If customers don’t know about you and your products or services, you can’t get them to react emotionally, much less respond to your call-to-action. Branding will help you raise awareness with a broader audience and, with sustained effort, help you turn ‘harder’ sells into ’softer’ ones.
• Credibility. Engaging in a comprehensive and consistent branding campaign helps create a sense of comfort and credibility in the minds of customers and clients. Once this credibility has been established, it is much easier to convert potential customers into actual ones. This, in turn, gives you the opportunity to live your brand and thus provide customers with a complete brand experience—hopefully turning them into ‘customers for life.’
• Value. Brand valuation is becoming an increasingly important factor in gauging an organization’s worth. John Stuart, chairman of Quaker Oats, once famously said of his company, “If this business were to be split up, I would be glad to take the brands, trademarks, and goodwill. You could have all the bricks and mortar, and I would fare better than you.” Clearly, Stuart understood the value of a brand. Indeed, many of the world’s most valuable brands have been around for more than 60 years, while the average lifespan of a corporation is about 25 years. One study indicated that on average brands account for more than one-third of shareholder value. The message is clear: brands generate value that can endure.
• Results. Achieving the types of impact described above, of course, should result in meeting quantifiable business goals. Without setting and planning for goals and objectives, a branding campaign cannot hit the mark, meaning that the time and money you spent created too little return on investment. Done properly, however, shaping and promoting your brand will yield many positive results: increased sales and customers, greater business valuation, increased and more positive press coverage, etc.

Some Final Thoughts

Branding is all about making an experiential and emotional connection with an individual in order to change (or reinforce) his or her perception of you. It is not a message to the masses, but rather communication between you and a single consumer or client.

Start by determining your desired positioning to achieve the results you’re looking for. Then create awareness of your organization through the consistent and compelling promotion of your brand. Eventually, this will help you establish credibility in the marketplace, resulting in increased value through the achievement of your business goals and objectives.

One by one, individuals determine your brand, not you. Rather than creating your brand, you can only shape and live it. You cannot force people to think the way you want them to, but you can influence what they think. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to decide what your brand is. In time, if you’re committed to its strategic, consistent, and proactive application, your brand will become what you want it to be, and take on a life of its own.