Branding - SME Marketing

What is a Brand?

A brand is the image, both visual and emotional, that the general public associates with a company and its product(s). Developing the brand(s) of a company sets the tone for many other activities, as it will influence how a company may wish to advertise, or dictate the tone of a public relations campaign.

Different companies and products will have different brands, but each must be carefully thought through and developed. For example, Robert Wiseman Dairies chose to brand both its cartons and its trucks with a distinctive cowhide livery to create a recognisable and distinctive image in the minds of consumers. While the late Dame Anita Roddick’s enterprise, The Body Shop, was most famous for its ethical stance and political activism despite the fact that its core business was health and beauty products.

Companies need to consider how they want to be viewed by consumers before they then go out and develop a strategy which will promote and push forward this image.

This can involve:

• Developing a product or service range that all fit in with a wider theme – for example high quality, healthy, fun, serious or affordable are all different images in the mind of a consumer.
  
• Publicising the brand to the media and general public through adverts, public relations, events and sponsorship, but also through word of mouth
  
• Ensuring that everybody involved with the company understands the brand and promotes it correctly