The impact of branding in consumers

Let’s play a game.

I’m going to say three things and I want you to mentally jot down the first thing that comes to mind.
Fast food. Running shoes. Computer.

Maybe you saw a juicy, delicious Big Mac.
Maybe you saw a glistening, colorful Nike shoe.
Maybe, you even saw a monochrome MacBook, with all its bells and whistles.

If you did, it means that these companies are doing a good job by positioning their brands in the market.

This is what we call brand awareness.

In order to create such a strong bond between a customer and a brand, branding plays a crucial role. Branding is a broad word, but it simply refers to the true soul and consistency of a brand. The stronger its characteristics are, the easier it’s going to be to identify, therefore the brand sticks in the customers’ mind. All labels are different, however, some characteristics include a logotype, certain colors or patterns, a set of typographies, etc. All of these together will help transmit the meaning and essence and will make it easily recognizable.

So why has branding become so crucial in ensuring the success of a product or service in recent years?

It is a consequence of the fierce competition that exists in all markets today. Maintaining consumers’ loyalty is essential for a brand to survive, plus it’s very common for people to turn to their favorite brand to facilitate purchase choices and avoid decision fatigue, in an ocean saturated of brands that offer the same solutions. It all comes down to consumer loyalty “a measure of the extent to which consumers are loyal to a particular brand over a period of time, which emphasizes a consistent repurchase of the same brand” (Sheth & Mittal 2004).

Branding is what allows for this relationship between brand and consumer to function, however, it is important to understand the product is equally important. If a product or service is bad, it will be very hard to create a strong relationship with your audience. If your branding is strong, oozes personality and you’re selling an exceptional product or service you’re very likely to succeed. This is a win-win combination that will automatically generate consumer loyalty and repurchases.

Today, companies pay high sums of money in order to hire experts to get the best branding available. This field gets more attention by the minute and continues to quickly spread widely, creating a more competitive market. A product or service has fewer chances to succeed without a branding that transmits its essence and speaks to its audience. But what about brand awareness?

Once a brand has a clear concept and a remarkable essence, how do you get it into the minds of people? The answer is easy, marketing. Bombarding your target with a thought out ad campaign through the right channels will draw attention to your brand. In other words, it’s how you get seen and what you do to let the right people know you exist. Plus, if the branding is good enough they will never forget you, and if your product is great people will repurchase and recommend you, as a consequence, your product or service will strive.

Branding is nothing but a tool that combined with other tools like marketing and graphic design will work miracles in selling a product or service in a world with too many choices. The main goal is to sell and sell again, to achieve this, consumer loyalty is essential, the rest will unfold effortlessly. However, we must keep in mind that the product or service must work with its branding. Branding is a powerful tool of the 21st century, not just a whim to make a thing look nice.