Why Creating an Excellent Online Brand is so Important in 2021?

There is a lot of mix-up about what a brand is, what is its identity, and why branding is so important in today’s race. Decades ago, branding was just a simple story to be told to the customers through a name, slogan, symbol, or design. In the 20th century, branding is a bit more complex but very important in this big world of competitors found in every small corner. It is a story not told once but told repeatedly to keep your name alive in the heart of customers. This constant hammering can be now significantly done through a digital medium.

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To understand branding, it is important to know what a brand is. A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company that owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product. It is the communication of characteristics, values, and attributes that clarify what this particular brand is and is not. There are 5 elements of building a brand online:

I)                  Agenda behind bringing a product/service into the market

Branding is Strategic. You strategize every minuscule detail related to your brand from the existence of the product or service to selling it to the end-user. What was your agenda behind bringing this product into the market, what were the shortcomings of other similar products already existing in the market, how are you overcoming this shortcoming in your product and why will your customer buy this product? All these questions are pondered upon before launching a product or service in the market from which teaser videos can be generated to create curiosity among the audience.

II)               Characters of product/service

Does action only mean what are the characters of your story doing? This is the most important aspect of branding that includes giving it a name and deciding a logo. The amount of hard work that goes into maintaining a brand’s identity through its logo is tremendous. A brand is known more by its logo than by its advertisements and publicity. Logo designing goes through a long meticulous process of rejections and modifications until the goal is satisfactorily achieved. Your logo should speak for your brand. One such example is the logo of Apple Inc. The apple logo design was a depiction of the apple tree in the story ‘Adam and Eve’ which symbolizes a Tree of Knowledge. Thus, the name ‘Apple’ came into existence which absolutely justifies the brand and speaks about the brand identity.

Talking about other characters of the story, your brand can be identified by a person, an animal, or an object. Alyque Padamsee, the brand father of Indian advertising, created Lalitaji for Surf, Cherry Charlie for Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish, the Muscle Man for MRF, the Liril girl in the waterfall, the Kamasutra couple for the condom brand, Hamara Bajaj slogan for the scooter brand, the TV detective Karamchand, the Fair & Handsome brand, etc. He always focused on one character to establish a brand and to create an impression on the audience. Visualizing a character or a mascot for your brand to let the audience identify and remember your brand forever is all about the identification of the brand.

One more important aspect of branding is the slogan/tag line. Does it only mean what are the characters of your story saying? Use your branding tactics to deliver a clear message to the audience, but in the most unique way possible. A great slogan also bears the truth of the power of succinctness in advertising. Slogans should be minimalistic and crisp. One word or one slogan will describe your brand as a whole. This one slogan can be a trendsetter… who knows! It’s difficult to express a complex emotional concept in just a couple of words — which is exactly what a slogan does. A slogan should be memorable, should include a key benefit, should differentiate the brand, and should impart positive feelings about the brand. Branding makes you feel like you’re worth it. The folks at L’Oréal worked with the theory that women wear makeup in order to make themselves appear “beautiful” so they feel desirable, wanted, and worth it. The tagline isn’t about the product — it’s about the image the product can get you. This message allowed L’Oréal to push its brand further than just utility so as to give the entire concept of makeup a much more powerful message. Thus, their slogan says L’Oréal ‘Because You’re Worth it.’

Traditional marketing had the disadvantages of first launching the product/service in the market through outdoor marketing or TV ads which had a huge initial investment. Through online marketing, investment is negligible and launch can be done through a logo or a symbol of identification and thus, steadily creating curiosity among the audience. Let people ask what the symbol of identification is all about.

III)            Power of publicizing a brand online

What are the characters of your story see­ing, hear­ing, touch­ing, tast­ing, and the smell is what branding all about.  Attach an emotional connection to your brand. Creating an exceptional story around your brand sets you apart from your peers. One interesting story is of BMW cars. The newer slogan of BMW “Designed for Driving Pleasure,” is intended to reinforce the message that it is the car’s biggest selling point that they are performance vehicles and they are thrilling to drive. This message is an emotional one and the one that consumers can buy into to pay the high price point.

Prasoon Joshi, India’s most favored ad man, was conferred the Padma Shri award for his acute knowledge and experience in the field of advertising. He has composed the anthem for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It says, ‘Saaf nahi toh maaf nahi’. This anthem was a rallying cry for the people of India who have come together and taken the initiative to make their village swachh and have made swachh bharat a jan andolan. This whole campaign was publicized online by the nation through videos and pictures. It was a roaring success and that’s the power of online success. This is what a brand should do online!

IV)            Highlight of branding

Once the characters are defined and the story is built, the highlight of branding is about the launch products. These essentials include newsletters, emailers, advertisements, brand guidelines, stationery, packaging, and store branding. All these essentials can be highlighted online. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for a fantastic launch element. Define every character of your story online, give an emotional connection to your story, and give the positioning to your brand on the search engines. Seek the help of Google AdWords to grow your online presence. Highlighting every little aspect of branding online will only make the brand look aesthetically appealing to customers. Introduce launch offers and launch dates. The benefit of online branding is less investment, no paper costs of invites, flyers, or newspapers, fewer efforts, more publicity in this digital world with just a click, less advertising costs, and more returns.  

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