What is a brand?
What leaves an impact on your customer at the end of the day to choose your product or service? The simplest answer is your brand.
A brand is a promise to the customer, telling them what to expect of your products and services that differentiates you from your competitors. Your brand allows for the customer to distinguish you out of a crowd by displaying who you are and what you stand for as a company with a clear image.
When a customer is faced with numerous brands everyday they must filter through thoughts and feelings to find the brand that is right for them. These thoughts and feelings can come from all different directions. A memory, family tradition or even media influence cane sway the decision of purchasing one product over another.
One customer may rely on price while another may rely on emotions. Think about what comes to mind when you hear the names Pepsi and Coca-Cola, for example. Do you know your local store brand version of Pepsi and Coca-Cola? Most individuals don’t, but they do know the two distinct logos associated with Pepsi and Coca-Cola, these logos are the image of the soft drinks brand.
The red, white and blue logo for Pepsi and the classic white cursive lettering on the red background for Coca-Cola are the two mainstream logos that most customers think of when asked about Cola soft drinks. These companies are competitors on the market; each has their own fan following and distinct mark on the soft drink industry. The loyalty of a customer can be swayed by many influences that will dictate the customer choosing a specific brand over the other.
When removing price and taste from the buying decision, most customers rely on their emotions and memory of a brand. The logo is a piece of your brand, its purpose is to remind them of what they liked or disliked in their memory of a product. Your logo is the image of your brand. It’s the visual reminder of your brand and promise to the customer. You can think of it as a bookmark in their memory, as they sift through their thoughts and feelings of competitive companies when determining their purchasing habits, logos will stand out to them either good or bad.
Think back to your first kiss on a hot summer night or the winter you broke your arm skiing or the day you landed your dream job? A multitude of brands were all a part of these important days. Whether good or bad, the memory can be easily resurfaced when looking at a brand.
You may remember the drink that was packed in the cooler for the summer road trip or the warm coat you were wearing when you fell on the slopes. These are all memories of a brand that can help persuade the inclination to continue buying the product for the future.
As a company you can’t determine the memories and emotional aspects of each individual customer towards your brand. But by promoting your product like Coca-Cola does for camp-outs or like Pepsi does for sporting events, your customer has the beginning foundation to build the memories needed to become loyal to your product; all of which is what helps build your brand and your customer base.
