Branding

What are the dimensions of branding?
Branding encompasses the sum of all strategic, visual and verbal elements of a brand that define its identity and interact to create a relevant and differentiating brand experience. This includes strategic positioning (brand idea or brand promise, brand story, brand personality), the name, logo, tone of voice and key messages, imagery, colors and fonts, layout principles and special design elements. Branding also includes basics such as adequate legal protection of the brand.

Why is branding important?
Products and services can be communicated efficiently and effectively under a strategically positioned brand: the brand makes the offering visible and recognizable – and thus creates trust among stakeholders. A strategic positioning in the premium sector – supported by branding that expresses this premium positioning – also increases profitability: strong premium brands can demand higher prices because they offer added value.

Who benefits from branding?
Branding plays a crucial role for all organizations. For companies of all sizes, branding is a central discipline for creating value and reducing costs. Institutions can use targeted branding to raise awareness and engage their stakeholders. Start-ups benefit from professional branding from day one, because a professional appearance ensures efficiency and evokes investor confidence. Cities, regions and countries also use branding to convey their image and thus promote tourism or attract investment.

What is the purpose of branding?
Strong branding lowers the costs of communication and brand management – through standardization and maximum image transfer. Branding also plays an important role in risk management. Through awareness, relevance and popularity, the costs of acquiring and retaining customers can be reduced. On the other hand, branding creates value. Strong brands secure future revenues by building and maintaining preference. And they increase profitability by enabling companies to charge a price premium.

Does every offering need its own branding?
Strong branding focuses on as few brands as possible. Especially in B2B, one single strong corporate brand is usually sufficient to communicate a wide range of offers. B2B offerings are ideally labeled with a self-explanatory nomenclature. This way, the company can use the trust in the well-known corporate brand to quickly bring new offerings to market.

What are the biggest mistakes in branding?

• Inconsistency and frequent rebranding: changing messages, inconsistent visual identities and continuous changes weaken recognition and affect the trust of stakeholders.
• Weak visual identity: a generic design misses the opportunity to position the company in a relevant and differentiating way. A design that is severely outdated puts off potential customers.
• False promises and a lack of authenticity: when a brand makes promises it cannot keep, it loses credibility and destroys the trust of its stakeholders.