A brand cannot be reduced to just a company name or logo, but is also a promise of quality or a message. In the course of branding, an intangible value is created that can also have a positive impact on business performance in terms of increased customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.
What is a brand?
The term “brand” stands for things like quality, durability and refinement. Products with a good reputation are bought. If the promise of quality is confirmed, it is recommended to others, who also buy in response to good coaxing. The brand is thus built up and the effect continues.
When we talk about “brand quality,” we have the idea of high quality and guarantee. When we talk about a brand, we mean a logo, a name, a claim or even an image. The MacBook would probably be just a notebook without the catchy name Apple and the bitten apple. Ideally, a brand even manages to dominate an entire product category.
Why do I need a brand for my business?
It doesn’t matter if you want to build a fashion brand, a personal brand, or your own coffee shop – in any industry or niche, it’s important to build brands. Strong brands can trigger positive feelings in us. In the brand world, this is referred to as “emotionalization. Like for example, if your business is about recruitment you have to have a good and presentable Recruitment Website Design where it’ll emphasize your brand better.
How do I build a strong brand?
Find your goal
Ask yourself why you want to start a business. Behind the most successful brands is a strong “why.” It helps you stick with it and see your goal clearly.
Look at the competition and find your positioning
Who are your competitors and what do they do particularly well? What are they not doing so well? And most importantly, what do you do differently or better than your competitors? If you don’t do anything different or better, why should your customers buy from you?
Introduce a strong message
Be clear about what you want your customers to feel when they buy your product.
- What are your company’s values?
- What is important to you?
- What does your business stand for?
These questions help you formulate your message. The focus is on questions about corporate values, customer benefits and team spirit.
Design your brand
Once you have completed the brand definition and have a detailed picture of the brand, the brand is implemented visually.
An essential part is your brand name, which represents your business.
If you choose a name that is indicative of your company, people will recognize what your business is about and immediately connect it to the name. Have you found a suitable domain name? Remember to do some research to find out whether the name is already in use. There are useful tools like the domain checker from IONOS, to check the domain availability completely free of charge.
Further steps are the creation of an appropriate logo, followed by the design of the website as well as offline marketing measures. Therefore, make sure that your branding both reflects your values and is attractive to the people you want to reach with your brand.
How do I protect my brand?
For many companies, their own brand not only functions as a figurehead to the outside world, but also carries a strong meaning in their corporate identity. This makes a brand very valuable for many companies. It is therefore all the more important to protect one’s own brand in order to prevent competitors from using it for their own purposes. Such misuse of other people’s brands can cause great financial damage.
There are hundreds of disputes over company or product names worldwide every year. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, they usually end up in court. And that can be expensive, because in many cases the lawyer’s fees and court costs alone quickly add up to several thousand euros.
Companies can protect themselves primarily through an official trademark registration. Trademark protection can be obtained on the one hand by registration with the USPTO (“United States Patent and Trademark Office”) and on the other hand by using the trademark in the course of trade. By registering a “Federal Trademark” with the USPTO, one obtains U.S.-wide protection. In contrast, a trademark only obtains protection through use where the trademark has actually been used in commerce.
Building your own brand is hard work, but it can be a lot of fun at the same time. The important thing here is that you position yourself clearly in the market, that you have a message and that you get it across. Don’t get rattled when criticism is expressed. In these times it helps you to remember your goal.
