"Why branding is so important?" I feel like this question is the most underrated question. I think the importance of branding should be taught to everyone who plans to become an entrepreneur or start a business. A brand is not just your logo design, tag line or how many followers that is associated with your social media pages. With marketing you want to ensure that all marketing activity and collateral have a very similar look and feel. Imagery, text and colour each resonate with consumers; when used consistently, this works to build a relationship between consumer and company. When your customers begin to recognise you, you have established your brand. Many people think of branding as a form of positioning, but in fact it is actually very different. Positioning is a fluid concept; you can position yourself at different times in different markets as many different things. Branding is more set in stone, acting as a point of recognition for a company.
Branding is exactly like hiring an image consultant for your business. An image consultant guides you in presenting yourself to your best advantage and in expressing your highest potential. Whether you are an individual or a business, whether you work outside the home or not, an image consultant or a brand manager can coach you on three key areas of visual impact:
Physical appearance - Brand Identity
Behavior - Brand Personality
Communication - Brand Communication
Here are some interesting points shared from a professional image consultant:
Dressing accordingly, allows for immediate acceptance as a respected contributor during meetings and networking contacts. Image awareness keeps the individual sensitive to first impressions and how important that is. Communication in a group setting becomes easier because people consider you to be important because of visual perceptions. Knowing how to dress up and down is important to fit in when groups project certain dress uniformity. The greatest take away from this is to feel accessible to various levels of management depending on what I know to wear and to take advantage of typical assumptions that men and women have in interpreting a person’s visual perception. -- I have noticed that dressing for success allows me to move into faster results because my personal image takes care of first impression uncertainty that can come from not dressing appropriately.
“Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.”
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