Knowthybrand-logo
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our Mission
    • Our Values
    • Our Team
  • Services
  • Our partners
  • Our Impact
  • Education
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Publications
  • Contact

The elusive meaning of Brand and Branding

Blog, Strategic branding BRANDING, BUSINESS STRATEGY

 

Every month in the UK alone, ‘Brand’ as a term has an average of over 20k searches. The three most popular results are:

  • Brand – Wikipedia
  • Defining Brand: Why Is It So Hard To Find A Perfect Definition?
  • BRAND | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

(Source: Moz)

Another interesting statistic is that the term ‘Branding’ – which has been around since for the past 2 centuries, when it was used predominantly to mark the property of animals by burning or “branding” a mark into your cattle to make sure that they couldn’t be rustled– has seen a steep increase over the past 20 years.

(source: google)

This seem to indicate that as individuals, as well as businesses, we are interested in branding, but we are not quite sure of what a brand truly is, let alone what branding means.

While it might seem surprising, in actual fact this is not a new finding. Even amongst brand experts there are discrepancies in what these terms mean, as we assessed a few years ago when writing the piece: Brand is everything… or is it?

The reason is that brand and branding are quite elusive concepts: are we talking about a logo, a promise, a perception…? And the list could go on.

And yet, this elusive concept of brand carries a real financial value, if you think that Apple –  the world most powerful brand, according to Forbes – has a brand value of $205.5 Billions!

Even in my daily work I’m often asked what I ‘actually’ do for living. What does a brand strategist do? Is it marketing? Is it communication? HR? Or maybe Business strategy?

My reply is… I do branding, which encompass a little of all the above. But before HR professionals and business coaches (understandably) jump at me, let me rewind a little.

When I founded KnowThyBrand 5 years ago I was determined to change the way the world perceived branding, from a branch of marketing to an entity in its own rights. My vision hasn’t changed, but the focus has: it is not a question of separating branding from marketing, it is about understanding that businesses (as well as individuals) need to be unique in order to stand out and be noticed, and they need to optimise the experience their target audience (internal and external) has with them in order to be chosen. In a nutshell:

Brand is the unique identifying essence of your business

It encompasses your Unique Value Proposition, your positioning, your mission, your values, your purpose, what you offer to your target audience that is so unique that they would choose you over your competitors.

Branding is the process of optimising the associations, feeling and impressions that your intended target audience experiences as a result of interacting with your brand.

This is a complex process because it encompasses customer experience, employer branding, internal and external brand alignment, communication, decisions about suppliers and partnerships, recruitment, and marketing, of course.

This is also a critical process, because it is ultimately positive outcomes that will bring the success to your business.

Not convinced yet? Here is an infographic that I created a few years ago, with all stats now updated, that explains the importance of branding. And if even professionals with the calibre of Neil Patel agree that this is something worthy of notice (check the bottom of the article https://neilpatel.com/blog/bootstrap-startup/ where part of the infographic is displayed), it is critical that your business doesn’t underestimate it:

Recent posts

Employer branding: your secret weapon to attract talent and improve diversity & inclusion at work

Unilever drops the ‘normal’ from its products and that is for a greater good

Profit with purpose

Brand mood board: what it is, why you need it, how to build it.

How to build a brand mood board.

Don’t let the current emergency stop you: invest in your brand and secure the future of your business

Knowhybrand-logo

Privacy Policy

Resources

Blog
Podcasts
Publications

Subscribe to receive regular updates

Contact us

Follow Us

Copyright © Knowthybrand 2022

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT