All too often, my clients look at brands as simply being the “logo on a product”. In times gone by, this could well have served as a good generalised description, but those were days when the ‘consumer’ was still an evolving entity, and communications were not as pervasive as ours today.
Consumerism has also evolved well beyond the generalised concept of people choosing which brand of beans, or clothing to buy.
We, as individuals or as groups, are consumers of products for ourselves, our families, and our businesses, and in all of these cases, more than ever before, we buy into the brand of our supplier, not just the product itself.
The reasons for brand based decisions are diverse and include:
- Perceived value of the product (commonly seen in clothing, luxury goods, and electronics)
- Differentiation of a product in a largely homogenised marketplace (e.g.: petroleum, courier services, telecommunications, et. Al)
- First move advantage (i.e.: those brands which were there first, and so gain respect regardless of quality, the advantage which, for example, yahoo maintained for a long time)
- Emotional Equity (i.e.: the intangible connection a consumer makes with a brand from having spent time and capital engaging with it, common in banking, utilities, and in the real-estate market)
- And many more!
But in any case, the argument for a business is quite clear, that branding is more than a logo. The great David Ogilvy even said, “You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.”
By Vikas Shah, founder of the Ultima Group.
