Understanding Branding; The Components of Branding in Business

Shalom Solomon 8th March, 2021

Branding is a concept in business whereby businesses build their indentity and reputation and use symbols such as logos and brand names to promote their business.

In the previous post on branding, we established that branding does not begin and end with a logo and brand name.

In this post, we'll explore what the other components of branding are.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime

1. Reputation

Yep, reputation. You know a business is going places when it has a good iron clad reputation. The reputation of your business is one of the primary parts of branding.

The reputation of your business is built based on the quality of services you offer, your relationship with customers, the quality of your products, Customer service, etc.

This point is where all small businesses and start ups should focus the efforts of their branding on.

As I stated in an earlier example, your logo or brand name would mean quite little if there is nothing to back it up. So, every business should have a consistent reputation as a message to be carried in their brand's identity and also in the minds of their existing and potential customers.

2. Brand Identity

Someone wise said that your business brand is your promise to your consumers. Basically, you are telling them (through your brand's symbols) that your product would satisfy their need, you would relate well with them, your business values it's customers and also that they are important.

Now, these symbols that carry or convey this messages are your brand's identity. They include:

The logo: which is a simple symbol that represents your entire brand. Your business logo is basically a symbol, it might be a letter, a simple image, a word or even your brand's name. As such you have to concentrate on every tiny detail. Sharp edges for instance shows that your business is efficient, has a sense of power, control, strength and it is kinda cool. So, a formal kind of business especially say a fintech company might go for a logo with sharp edges. Logos that look like rings or are circular convey a positive emotional message, community based, friendship, love and relationship.

The business or brand name: I guess everyone knows what a business name is. This part of your branding process that you have full control over. Try to make your business name simple enough that others would remember and it should also be unique so it can be distinct from other business names.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime

The typography: the Typography of your brand has to do with the unique font style, size and weight you chose to use for your business, adverts, posts, articles, letterhead, emails, on your website and any text related item of your business.

The colour scheme: the colours that represent your business. Colours have a measure of influence over people's emotions. So the way people see your business can be influenced by the colour scheme you use. Your colour scheme should not be selected based on the colours you like. It developed based on the nature of your business, it's tone and your target audience. Blue for instance conveys stability and is suitable for formal businesses, red on the other hand is seen as passionate and would be a great colour for a sales company.

The structure of your website: combined with the right colours, images and typography, the structure of your website would also influence the perception of your target audience about your business. It can carry parts like your business story, vision and mission statement. These all serve to build trust. Heck, I check the domain names of business websites to decide if they are trust worthy or not. I'm not the only one, a lot of people might have things they consider red flags when searching for a product or service to patronize. Hence, your website should say, your business is trust worthy, it is legit and can satisfy the customer's need. This is especially important for e-commerce businesses.

The tagline: taglines aren't all that important as they have lost to a degree the power to hold people's interest for long especially in recent years. According to a survey carried out by Forbes, hashtags have replaced taglines. I'm not saying taglines are totally useless, but don't beat yourself on the head over it if you can't come up with one now.

3. Quality and Packaging of Products

So, your quality of your product or service is also a component of your brand. No one would drink CocaCola if it tastes like bleach no matter how well it is advertised. The quality of your product or service would turn prospective and visiting customers into regulars.

The efforts of branding will be wasted if it is done for a product that does not satisfy the needs of the consumers. You'd lose big time if you offer poor services and products and expect a great tagline, logo, business name or website to do all the heavy lifting for your brand. Also package your products or services in a way that appeals to your target consumers and is at the same time unique. This wod differentiate your products from that of your competitors.

4. Brand Tone/Voice

The voice of your brand is the general impression it gives to customers. Think of your brand as something that is alive and all the other components come together to evoke certain emotions and impressions on clients. These emotions are evoked by the voice of your brand.

CocaCola's brand voice for instance is positive, friendly, humble and happy.

Guineas on the other hand has a voice that is sophisticated, with a witty sense of humour and a bit rough, kinda like something someone like Jason Statham in Hobbs and Shaw would drink.

Your brand's voice has to be consistent across all your business content. It has to carry the values and identity of your brand in every of your business' content.

Conclusion

All the components of branding are important some more than others. You as a business owner should study what level your business is at and figure out the best way to go about branding your business. Remember that the components of branding should be consistent in every of your content but should also be flexible enough to accommodate changes and new trends in your business niche.

Good luck...