The Importance of Branding

A few days ago I went to Stew Leonards to pick up some shrimp for a recipe I was making. For anyone who has been to Stew's, you know it is impossible to just walk into that place, get what you want, and walk right out. IMPOSSIBLE. This is even more difficult while I am shopping with my boyfriend who will walk around any store or shopping center several times just to get as many free samples as he can. 

Apple even uses Brand Architecture to build its company brand

Anyway, while we were making rounds for free samples we came across the bread section and a man was handing out Belgian Waffles covered in cinnamon and sugar. Right off the bat... anything covered in cinnamon and sugar, to me, is perfection! (For all of you beer lovers out there, check out the Shipyard Pumpkin Ale. Not only does it taste like pumpkin and cinnamon, but when you order it as a draft, the bartender puts cinnamon and sugar on the rim! Amazing, right? Unfortunately it is only sold in the fall so if you see it you need to get it... sorry tangent over.)

Yes, the waffles were delicious, but like all of the other samples I was fine living without it. I was ready to move on and I started walking away. But the samples guy said something that stopped me in my tracks. He said "Imagine yourself running out of the house in the morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and this waffle in the other..." Weird, right? Not weird, genius. At that point I needed those waffles. My life would not have been complete without them. I needed to fulfill that vision because oddly enough it sounded so realistic to me. I could definitely imagine myself doing that. Thinking about this yesterday made me think of web techniques for advertising, marketing and most importantly, branding. 

Customers today really desire a connection to what they purchase. There has got to be a reason to use a product other than the simple fact that it works. We want to feel like the company understands us, our needs, and our lifestyle so much so that it feels like they cater directly to us, that they are thinking specifically about us as they are developing their products. The way a company brands themselves and positions themselves in someone’s mind truly determines how a customer will react to them. Companies have to figure out what makes themselves and their audience unique and how to cater to those people, and create a brand out of that.

Companies, especially new ones, just do not understand the importance of branding. It isn’t just picking a logo and colors, and it is no longer the ability to just inundate our media with commercials for products and services. What a company needs to be sustainable is customer loyalty, not just people who will laugh at a sarcastic or witty commercials and then change the channel. Look at Apple, for example. Not only do most hearts flutter when they see that bitten apple on any piece of technology, but no matter how many almost identical versions of the same product come out 4 months apart, people buy them anyway. Owning Apple products is less about owning a phone or a tablet or a computer, it is more about owning a lifestyle.

Regardless of how you feel about Apple’s products specifically, all companies could take some notes on their techniques. Whether it is through conferences, events, renaming employees to "Geniuses", providing a brand that your customers can directly fit themselves into far surpasses any frog saying "Bud...Weis...ERRR". 

Check out this article on branding techniques for designers:
The Designers Guide to Branding