What is a brand? The word brand has a different meaning, depending on who you ask.
A brand, according to American Marketing Association (AMA) “is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other features that identifies the sellers’ goods and services as distinct from those of other sellers.
Branding, according to Kolter & Keller, 2015 is “endowing products and services with the power of brand”. It is the step of giving meaning to a specific organisation, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. The aim is to attract and retain loyal customer and other stakeholders by rendering a service or product that is always aligned with what the brand promises.
Why Is Building Your Brand As An Agent Necessary?
Building your brand provides customers with a decision-making shortcut when feeling indecisive about the same product or services from different organizations.
Apart from the above reason, branding also helps consumers to distinguish similar products; successful branding strategies are also adding to a company’s reputation. This quality can affect a range of people, from buyers to employees, investors, shareholders, providers and distributors. For instance if you don’t like or connected to a brand, you will probably not want to be associated with it. But if you are connected with the brand or feel like the brand is in line with what you want and offer services and products that inspires you, you would probably want to patronise it and be a part of its world.
How do I brand my company / how long can it take to make a good brand?
Everything in life has a purpose; a life of purposelessness is empty and leads nowhere. Building a brand starts with a step: hence the strongest real estate brands you see around in the world today such as Colliers International, Fine & Country, Harrolds Estate, Luxury Villas Group, and so on, started just one day, and kept on growing with consistency.
Here are important things to note:
- Your brand must have purpose, value and promise.
- You must position your brand. For instance, our own LVG brand was positioned to cater for the upper class, as well as the mobile individuals; corporate ‘A’ list companies and of course the elites.
- A good brand must have a distinct identity that differentiates it from the crowd and not copycat (you must be original).
- Finally and not near the list: your advertising and communication must be consistent