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Understanding Corporate Branding
The advertising of the business culture/brand is known as corporate branding.
A brand, as Jeff Bezos once put it, is what others think and say about you or your business when you aren’t in the room. The products and services that a business offers form part of the brand.
Struggling with your brand strategy?
If you had to figure out your brand strategy right now, would you be able to do it?
Crafting a Distinctive Brand
At B&E Design Firm, we help you understand the importance of corporate branding and assist you in building your brand from scratch. We believe that in order for a business to stand out among its competitors, it needs to present itself in a way that proudly shows off everything that the business stands for.
This public image that the business displays should be something that doesn’t go against it’s values. It should be a direct representation of not only what the business is about but also it’s core values. Done in such an easy-to-define way that the target audience will gravitate towards it. This is what is known as a brand.
What is Corporate Branding?
Unveiling Corporate Branding: Beyond Products and Services
Corporate branding is the promotion of your business as a whole. Not just the products or services that your business offers. It helps to differentiate your business from your competitors. Its the identity that your consumer base will recognise your business by.
It helps consumers connect with your business by identifying the unique selling points that your business possesses. Turning them into loyal customers. It does not matter if the business deals with one primary product (e.g. Apple) or if it deals with multiple (e.g. Unilever). Not to be confused with product branding, which is the advertising of a specific product that the business sells. Without highlighting the company that either produces or distributes that particular product.
What Does Corporate Branding Include?
Traditionally, corporate branding has been a tool that many businesses have used to build themselves up and make themselves stand out from their competition.
Corporate branding is not limited to specific elements of a business, be it the business’ logo or name. Rather, it is the total embrace of all aspects of the business. These include:
- Logo
- Website
- Customer Service
- Treatment of employees
- Training of employees
- Packaging
- Advertising
- Stationery
- Quality of products offered
- Quality of services rendered
Corporate Branding Strategies
Strategy 1: Personal branding
Personal branding is something that is usually associated with the rich and famous. Be they an athlete, film star, or politician. Becoming famous (or infamous) is a huge factor in many businesspeople attaining their success. Their social profile helped them get many clients and generate a huge fanbase. This fanbase can, in turn, be used as a means of generating revenue for your business.
Example:
This type of branding is being used effectively by Vusi Thembekwayo, a public speaker and venture capitalist who has used his public image to successfully market his books to thousands of people around the world. Beyond that, he has been able to generate a healthy public interest in his business ventures, that has seen him become one of the most successful investors in South Africa today.
Strategy 2: Product Branding
Product branding is the most common type of branding that exists out there. It is the advertising of whatever product a particular business sells to its consumer base. This type of branding involves the use of words, colours, and images to set one product apart from another similar product.
For a business to have effective product branding, they need to first understand what it is that their customers look for in their product. This allows the business to create a competitive product. Understanding the desires of the consumer base will allow the business to have a better brand strategy process, which will lead to a better product roadmap.
Example:
Bathu is a South African shoemaker company that began by producing sneakers that have a unique African flavour to them. They’re vibrant, colourful, and full of life, similar to the flag of South Africa. By tapping into the need that people had for a uniquely African sneaker, Bathu was able to produce a product that is now widely regarded as unique and exciting.
They’ve since branched into making other forms of shoes, not just sneakers. And while the shoes may be different, their core value of giving them that African flavour is still at the heart of the brand.
Strategy 3: Service Branding
No matter the field your business operates in, ensuring that your business delivers quality services is going to be one of the most difficult challenges that your business will encounter. Services are the lifeblood of any business. They represent the interactions that your business has with its customers.
It does not matter whether these services are provided in person, over the phone, or via email. This is service branding. This extends to the type of customer service options that a business offers. Every interaction with a customer is a part of this form of branding.
The ever-growing usage of the internet has made it slightly more difficult for companies to maintain a good service brand across multiple channels. This desire to maintain good service practises over multiple channels is the main differentiator between companies nowadays.
Consistency is the main driving force behind most companies maintaining quality service branding.
Most companies try to build good reputations so that consumers return to them for more great service. Quality service branding does not just result in returning customers being happy. It also allows for new customers to be happy, making them spread the word about a company’s great services.
Examples of corporate branding
Example 1: Tesla
Tesla is a globally recognised brand that deals primarily in the production of electric vehicles. They are a luxury brand that is slightly more expensive than their competitors, and as a result, they market themselves without mentioning the price of their vehicles. They instead choose to focus on other factors whenever they market their vehicles, primarily the range of their electric vehicles, how environmentally friendly they are (for the most part), and the numerous safety records that they have met (Teslas are the only cars to have ever received 5-star ratings for safety).
Tesla’s Quirky Branding Strategy
Tesla carves out a niche market for themselves through their fun, quirky marketing campaigns (or lack thereof). And the strong personal branding of its CEO, Elon Musk, who is a well-known lover of memes. It allowed the company to advertise through quirky features on their cars, such as dog mode, sentry mode, and even fart mode (yes, the cars can fart).
Example 2: Apple
Apple is well known for advertising how unique its products are when compared to those of its nearest competitor. They build themselves on the values of innovation and creativity. And when they market their products, they do so by speaking about these very same qualities to their consumer base.
Apple’s Innovation Legacy
The iPod revolutionised the way in which people listened to music in the early 2000s, before the iPhone came around and blew everyone away with how it was designed and how it could be utilised. It brought the world into the age of the smartphone and essentially changed the way people interacted with each other, not only on a proffessional level but also on a business level. This form of constant innovation that the company is now known for has made them an industry leader within the technology sphere.
Creative and innovative consumers usually gravitate towards Apple’s strong messaging about promoting these qualities within the individual user. Just like Tesla, Apple does not include the prices of their products when they market them. They just mention how their products will improve their customers’ lives.
Example 3: Shoprite
Shoprite is one of South Africa’s oldest retailers and has made a name for itself by providing goods that everyday people can afford. They offer a wide range of services that go beyond serving quality food products at low prices to their consumers. They have a range of in-house services that include the following:
Shoprite’s Service Portfolio
- Money Market: A service that their customers can use to purchase air tickets, bus tickets, make utility payments, conduct money transfers, and more.
- MediRite: A pharmacy that provides easily accessible and affordable healthcare services.
- Computicket: A ticket booking service for various leisure activities, such as concerts and sporting events.
- Shoprite Liquor Shop: A service that is available at a limited number of stores where customers can purchase alcoholic beverages from around the world at their convenience
- Virtual Grocery Vouchers: According to their website, customers can buy online and have them sent to the recipient’s cellphone. They can then redeem them at a Shoprite store.
These services have allowed Shoprite to connect with the lower-income retail consumer more than any other. Their form of service branding has allowed them to become an industry leader.
Why is Corporate Branding Important For Your Business?
Corporate branding is important to any business, be it big or small. It conveys the company’s uniqueness and promotes its core values. This is presented in different ways.
- Visually: Through the company’s logo, website, and product packaging.
- The tone of voice: The language used in internal and external communications.
- Through customer service: The quality of the service rendered in any given operation.
Building Loyalty Through Strong Corporate Identity
Corporate identities allow businesses to have multiple avenues in order to market themselves to their customer base. Establishing a powerful corporate brand helps to shape your customers’ opinions of your business and also helps to gain their loyalty. Through the establishment of your company’s characteristics and emphasising them, it will certainly increase the chances of customers being loyal to your business.
Through constant visualisation, a business can create awareness among its customers, shareholders, and employees. All of the business’s key positive aspects will be burned into customers’ minds, thus creating a basis for recognition of the business among its various competitors.
Ensuring Consistency
Strong corporate branding does not allow for any vagueness or inconsistencies to pop up when it comes to a brand’s personality. It showcases everything that the company has done in order to make sure that it projects its best self, leaving no room for misrepresentation.
Therefore, it is crucial for a company to have employees that know the corporate brand well enough that they can spot any inconsistencies that may result in it being misrepresented and work to quickly fix whatever it is that may be a hindrance to delivering strong corporate branding.
How to Start a Corporate Branding Campaign?
A corporate branding campaign is an opportunity for your business to either invent or reinvent itself in the customers’ minds. When starting a corporate branding campaign, there are a few things to consider. These things are all dependent on the needs of your business, which will vary from campaign to campaign.
Steps to consider when doing a corporate branding campaign
The Value of Time in Corporate Branding
When doing it yourself, one of the first things to remember is that money cannot replace time. Throwing a lot of money into the campaign at the beginning, all with the hope of speeding up the corporate branding process, will result in a message being delivered that has zero consistency over time. Frequently, consistent corporate branding lasts longer than branding that overwhelms in the beginning but becomes slow later on.
Target Audience Identification
Take the time to find out who your target audience is. Knowing exactly who you are targeting will help you effectively market your corporate branding to the right people without wasting a lot of resources.
Simplifying Corporate Branding Messaging
You have to make it easy for your consumers to interact with you. Do not layer your corporate branding with multiple messages. It is best to just stick to your primary message, one that you want your audience to know you for, which should be attractive enough to make your consumer base want to return for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is corporate branding, and why is it important?
Corporate branding is all about defining and expressing your company’s identity—it’s who we are, what we do, and why we do it. More than just a logo or tagline, it’s the emotional and psychological relationship we have with our customers. It’s important because it can create a memorable impression on consumers, establish loyalty, and set expectations.
How does corporate branding contribute to business success?
Simply put, effective corporate branding makes you stand out in the crowd. In a highly competitive business environment, having a unique and strong brand identity can be the deciding factor that nudges a customer to choose us over a competitor. It also helps in creating a positive perception and trust among stakeholders, influencing their buying decisions.
What are the benefits of establishing a strong corporate brand?
Oh, where do we start? Greater customer recognition, increased business value, easier introduction of new products, improved credibility with stakeholders, stronger customer loyalty, and even attracting better talent. In a nutshell, a strong corporate brand can be a game-changer for us in the business world.
How can corporate branding differentiate a business from its competitors?
It’s all about personality. Our corporate branding gives us a unique character in the marketplace. From our visual elements like logos and colour schemes to our communication style and customer service, every aspect of our branding strategy sets us apart from our competitors, making us distinctive and memorable.
Does corporate branding help build customer loyalty?
Absolutely! When we consistently deliver on our brand promise, customers develop trust and loyalty towards our business. They know what to expect from us and feel confident in choosing us over others. Corporate branding helps us forge that strong emotional bond with our customers.
What role does corporate branding play in marketing strategies?
Think of corporate branding as the foundation of all our marketing efforts. It guides our communication with customers and determines how we want to be perceived in the market. It also provides a roadmap for creating advertising and promotional materials, helping us maintain consistency across different marketing platforms.
How can businesses develop an effective corporate branding strategy?
It all starts with understanding who we are as a company—our values, mission, and vision. Then we define our target audience, research our competitors, and decide on our unique selling proposition (USP). With these in place, we can create a brand personality that resonates with our audience and differentiates us in the market.
Can corporate branding increase customer trust and credibility?
Yes, and it does so in a big way. When we have a strong, consistent brand, customers recognise and trust us. They feel confident in what we’re offering and associate our brand with reliability. This increased trust leads to increased credibility, which can only be good for business.
Does corporate branding have an impact on brand recognition?
Undoubtedly, yes! Corporate branding is like a beacon in the sea of businesses. It makes us easily identifiable and memorable in the minds of customers. When done right, corporate branding can lead to increased recognition, helping us become a well-known name in our industry.
Contact a Corporate Branding Company Near You
Do you want to build a business with loyal customers? Here at B&E: Design Firm, we specialise in crafting excellent corporate branding that leaves a lasting impression on your target market. We are a corporate branding company situated in Durban. Our comprehensive list of digital marketing services is tailored to suit the individual needs of your business and is some of the best out there.
Contact us today and let us help you turn your business into a brand.
