Many entrepreneurs are still not aware of how vital a good brand image is. And mostly, they are the ones who in no time will quit the business, because they can’t compete with the chaotic marketplace. It’s not enough to believe that you created something that is great, you have to let the people know about it by building a good image for your brand.
What Is Brand Image?
A catchy name or a logo is not enough for your product or service to make an impact on your consumers’ minds. Giving your product its own personality by building a good brand image is not just a representation of your product, but it tells so much about the core value of your company, your people, and the people you serve. “The type of brand personality we are attracted to in others is probably influenced by what we think they can accomplish for us or what we can accomplish together,” Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Ph.D., CCS, explains.
Brand image is your company’s, brand’s, or service’s personality you want your core group to know. It is about the things your product represents.
Your logo serves as the face of your product or company, but your brand represents all the likable things in your product. It is your confidence in your product, the passion your company puts into that product, where does it belong, how can it serve the core group that would own it. Your brand is the feeling of security that it will be able to deliver its purpose for which it was created.
Nike builds their brand as a step towards creating value and making their brand stand out and desirable.
Don’t Compare Yourself To Other Brand
There are many of your kind in the world market. And it would not be fair to compare yourself to them when building your brand, because your product is its own unique self, a league of its own. Jonice Webb, Ph.D., furthers, “It is natural to look around and assess those around us, to some extent.”
People will acknowledge your company once you effectively send a positive message of what your product is about. Some brands do this by finding people whom their market can identify with.
A bakeshop can look for a successful or a model mom to represent their product when building a brand campaign. Moms are best in giving their love and they show it in the food that they prepare for their families. Thoughtful moms always bake or prepare a cake for any occasion to surprise her loved ones.
Most household products use moms to represent them in building their brand because moms do the chores, know what their family needs, and make most of the spending decisions at home.
Don’t Talk About Your Product
Instead, talk about how your customer would benefit from it, how they would feel the moment they use your product. It’s not about having the icing on your cake, but how the look of the cake will excite a child or a mom, how they would feel the moment they take a bite of your cake. Peter G Stromberg Ph.D. advises to, “Figure out your strengths and then figure out how to market them, thereby creating a public relations image for yourself.”
Building a brand is about building an emotional connection with your target market.
Steve Jobs, when building Apple’s brand, says that their customers would want to know who is Apple, what do they stand for, and where do they fit in this world?
Tell the world who you are by making known to them what your business is all about. Let it be known that you exist and you are different from the rest.
To thrive in a jungle of enterprise where all we need seems to already be in the market, you have to have your own brand, or else you’ll suffer from an identity crisis. You have to find a way to dig up your place in the chaotic marketplace by knowing your identity and letting the consumers know that you exist and you have something that they need. To do that, you have to build a good image for your brand.
Build your brand, and make your dent in this universe.