Why invest in branding?

How deep is the relationship between you and your customers? Do they wear t-shirts emblazoned with your logo? Is your website in their ‘favourites’ menu? Will they choose your products every time, even when the price is higher?

Whether it’s forming a relationship or creating a franchise with your customers, the shorthand for summing up your connection to a customer is your brand.

So why invest in branding?

To achieve a price premium
To boost the value of your business
To empower your consumers to love you and your product
To unite your own culture
To create a wonderful exit strategy

Perhaps the greatest fallacy in marketing is the idea that a brand is simply a logo, says Jacques Chevron, the US marketing guru. A brand is the sum total of every experience a customer has with a company-from the monthly bill statement to the motorway billboard.

But not all brands are in good health. David Aaker, author of Building Strong Brands, warns that a company that doesn’t design its brand experience will find it designed for them by others-including its rivals. This article shows how design-led companies are using branding to transform their businesses from good to great. The matter is important, especially in New Zealand where branding is often undervalued and misunderstood.

Branding is a key to unlocking value that every part of the business has worked so hard to create. So how much value? In the case of our most trusted iconic Kiwi brands, such as Whittakers Chocolates and Air New Zealand, the brand goodwill is worth many millions of dollars and adds significantly to the overall company value.

[Source: stuff, betterbydesign – abridged]