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Stages of branding: sequence of actions in brand development
Branding is the creation of a company image that will be remembered and attract potential customers. The main component is the development of a brand or trademark and an original, concise name. The importance of this does not need to be explained, just think of famous companies, such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft or Apple, where the name and logo speak for themselves and are associated with success. There are stages of branding, which help in the development of a positive image.
The creation of the company’s image should begin with an analysis of the market and the target audience. It is necessary to find out the needs of consumers and what difficulties they face in choosing the right product. Next, experts develop the entire customer journey and the sales funnel. An important point is the study of competitors, their advantages and disadvantages. This will allow the company to offer something that the others do not.
In addition, at the initial stages, a brief – terms of reference – is developed for each division. It allows employees to understand what tasks stand before them and better understand the processes being realized in general. It should be understood that branding is a teamwork, which requires a creative approach from the whole team, not only from designers and marketers.
Another stage of branding is positioning; it is based on the market and target audience data obtained earlier. Processing this information allows us to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the product and the company as a whole, and to see how they differ from competitors’ offerings. After the analysis, the brand concept is developed, which includes creating a unique philosophy and mission for the company. It is also important to consider what associations the product will evoke in consumers, and based on all this information, choose the best channel for promotion.
The next stage of branding is naming. It involves the creation of a name and a slogan and should reflect the essence of the company. The name will be used in advertising and presentations. It is also necessary to create a legend for the brand or product. Note that the brand name and logo should be officially registered to avoid a situation where the name is already used by another company.
After naming, there comes the stage of design and identity development. Here, it is important to convey the main idea to specialists, so they think in detail about style and design. The result of these efforts is recorded in a brandbook and guideline. The first document contains information about the brand and the company’s mission, which users can familiarize themselves with. Guideline is an instruction on how the logo should be used for advertising campaigns or souvenir products design. These documents allow you to structure all the stages of branding and clearly indicate its use in certain cases.