Everywhere you go these days, you’ll find yourself surrounded by branding…

For those who don’t know what branding is, branding is the “promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design”. One of the best and most notable examples of branding is McDonald’s. Their branding is that successful, that most people can identify the ‘golden arches’ logo anywhere they go in the world, as well as knowing the slogan/jingle.

So why is branding so important? Here are 5 reasons why:

#1 Identity

When promoting a product or starting a business, your brand identity is what represents the company (the face of the company). Have you ever looked at the way a company has represented themselves through their choice of design and been put off from purchasing a product from them? Or the opposite, you actually purchase from that company purely based on their appealing branding?

Prime examples of purchasing purely because of the brand are:

• Nike
• Adidas
• Apple
• Yves Saint Laurent
• Mac
• Nandos

*Fun Fact*

The Nike Swoosh corporate trademark was created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson while she was a graphic design student at Portland State University. Carolyn went on to sell the logo to Nike for $35 and is now worth…$26 BILLION!!

#2 Audience

Successful brand identity must be created to attract a target audience or else the whole purpose of the company or product can be defeated. For example, if a company were to sell children’s toys, a modern/neutral design approach would not work, ending in loss of profit. Tailoring your branding to your target market is more essential to success than you may think!

#3 Trust

As previously mentioned in the first point, branding is what creates trust. Trust is so important when promoting products and creating a business, as this is what creates recognition and returning/new customers, resulting in brand popularity and profit increases. A way to build trust within your branding is to make sure your design is ‘fresh’ and relevant to the message and identity you would like the world to see.

The same goes for website design, especially during the times we are living in where everything can be purchased online now. Most people will not purchase or trust a website which lacks creativity and ultimately looks ‘cheap’. If your website is attractive and modern, it’ll instantly achieve an element of trust.

#4 Branding Supports Advertising

Advertising is another important component of branding, as branding alone will not necessarily show a company or product off to the world. Advertising will promote and build a brand, as well helping to continuously remain relevant in the modern forever changing world, if done correctly.

This will involve constant development, research and minimal changes to your advertisements, as long as the overall colour scheme and brand stays relevant.

#5 Branding Inspires Employees

It is all well and good creating a new business, but who will help run it? This is where employees come into the picture.

When hiring for a business, it can be easy to hire anyone but the majority of employees want more than just work – statistics show that the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. Now that is a long time to spend your life working!

When employees are inspired by the brand they work for, it becomes a reason for them to be there, as well as feeling that same pride and passion, alongside working towards the same direction to achieve goals which the business owner has set out to reach.