Regardless of the type of business you do or the categories of customers you serve, you need a reputable business brand to succeed.
Branding is almost everything with business success. But branding must never be confused with logos.
Many people make the mistake of confusing business brands with logos, and so spend all their resources on designing a fascinating logo that does little for promoting the business brand.
A Business Brand Is Different From Its Logo
A business brand must not be reduced to a logo. In fact, a brand is not a logo. Conversely speaking, a logo is part of a business brand, but a brand is way bigger and larger than a logo. In simple terms, a logo is the distinctive image or symbol or emblem by which a company or business is known. It is a work of art that aims to capture what a company stands for and represents in the business world.
A brand on the other hand has more to do with a business’ reputation and the value it bestows on customers than on its logo. A brand has to do with the perceptions and expectations customers have towards a company and its service or products and how these impact their lives. In short, brand building means helping customers to develop positive ideas about a company’s products and services to the point of using the company’s products and spreading the word to friends and family.
How to Build a Business Brand
There are several simple ways to brand building than logo designs. These are –
- Deliver products and services that exceed customers expectations
- Let your business/company representatives provide customers with extraordinary service, attention and help
- Deliver products and services far ahead of schedule or given deadlines
- Package products in a unique, charming and elegant manner
- Create service value by surprising and impressive your customers
- Let customers walk away with a positive and excellent service experience with your company
- Restructure and reorganize your business to add value to customers at every point of patronage
What You Should Be Worried About
One thing you must never muddle up in your business operations is your brand identity. Your business must stand for something unique, and this uniqueness must be your strong selling point. When you understand your brand identity, you will be able to equally understand the fundamental perceptions and expectations customers have toward your business. Your main duty is harnessing these customers’ expectations and perceptions to create and add value to their patronage experience with you.
Do not forget that companies change their logos after several years in response to customers’ perceptions and expectations. This shows that a logo can never fully capture all a company stands for, nor satisfy customers’ needs. But branding is the tool to generating and keeping and satisfying customers in all seasons.