autoban-delaespada-com
Branding a Business

© Rosaura Ochoa

I was quite intrigued to view the colorful and informative page of Ed Young Dallas, TX, senior pastor linked with the Fellowship Church, for the last ten years. I have always been interested in learning more about the working methods of successful, creative and inspiring leaders, and try to integrate their best practices to grow my business.

With Facebook and other social media emerging as the latest branding and marketing platform, almost all big companies have their own Facebook pages. This helps the company connect directly with their present and potential customers. Social media marketing and branding is almost like science with many experts offering innovative ideas and tips to make the most out of social media and growing one's business network.

Business branding invariably results from a set of perceptions and associations, which develop in the minds of the people and leads to the creation of a specific image about the association, product or person.

The compelling content which forms an integral part of internet branding strategies of the business should have more than just well written material to attract the consumers. It should be highly exciting, engaging and thought provoking which succeeds in urging the perspective buyer to sit up and take notice. Business branding becomes an integral part of the business story and gives the business a true voice. Most internet branding experts feel that large capital investments are not the chief criteria for a successful business. Correct placement of brand values and identity provides a strong competitive edge to the business and places it an advantageous position.

Every business regardless of size and volume requires a brand to showcase its inherent strengths. The capability of the firm to deliver services and products is communicated in an effective and concise manner by its brand. Well established and implemented brand strategies succeed in achieving long term loyalty and dedication of the customers. Brand identity provides an insight into the consumer's perception of a particular business. Effective presentation of products and services provide better and more impactful information regarding a business and this leads to better bottom line figures.

Business branding therefore leads to great benefits as it presents the target as exciting, trusted, distinctive and reliable. The competitors, audiences, service aspects and delivery aspects of business branding, may vary as per the requirements of the associations. However, the basic principles of branding require complete clarity in regards to the purpose and mission of the association.

© loop_oh

RiechesBaird, one of the top B2B business branding agencies in the United States, recently premiered the newest instalment of its "Branding Business" radio show. The show features recognized thought leader in marketing Tim Williams, and is about how to select the right marketing partner for your business. "Branding Business" is part of an online community, dedicated to brand strategy, brand development and brand engagement. It is an open online forum, for branding professionals, their clients and interested prospects.

What exactly is business branding? Does it hold importance for all sizes of business? These and many more questions always come up when one talks about business branding. Brand building is simply a collection of functions that is necessary to make a business successful. It helps in increasing the public's awareness of your business and helps build a strong company essence that inspires loyalty and trust in your customers while providing a level of familiarity and comfort to draw in potential customers.

Business branding discussions in the public domain are almost exclusively focused on multi-national brands such as Apple, General Motors, Google and McDonald's. These powerful brands make it difficult for small and medium size businesses to recognize the value of business branding.
A carefully built brand is worth more in actual dollars than all the tangible assets put together and is what will reap monetary rewards when you're ready to sell your company.

© theimpulsivebuy

The attempt to use corporate brand equity to create valuable product brand recognition is known as "Corporate branding". It is also known as umbrella or family brand and the company uses its own name in branding products rather than giving them unique individual brands of their own. Disney, IBM, Heinz are examples of companies using corporate branding of products while promoting them to their consumers.

A very interesting case of Corporate branding which raised certain eyebrows was Kraft's decision to name its snacks division as "Mondelez International". The tough pronunciation of the brand name and its meaning left the media confused and asking for explanations.

According to Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, the Mondelez brand would offer a solid foundation for the strong relationship with its customers, consumers, employees and shareholders. However it was not clear whether Mondelez would be established as a consumer brand or remains purely as a corporate brand. If it was to have a unique product identity then the case for the difficult pronunciation and vagueness in meaning stood its ground. However if corporate branding was to be used then it really did not matter.

There are many companies that resist from corporate branding and individual branding of the products exists in their promotion. For example very few of us are aware that Tide, Gillette, Pantene, Duracell, etc are not using corporate branding of Procter and Gamble which is their umbrella brand.

So it remains to be seen whether Mondelez will be established as a consumer brand where suppliers, customers and retailers will have to deal with problems in pronunciation and transparency in meaning or corporate branding will make things easier.