On What Branding Is All About

tools of the COPYwriter's trade: apple iphones

In my last entry, I stated that I believe a brand exists solely in the mind.

That’s not a new idea, yet my guess is that a lot of people—especially people in business—are uncomfortable with the notion.

After all, if a brand has no physical reality and exists only in someone’s mind, the organization charged with building the brand has no real control over the brand.

People can think whatever they want. And if they choose to ignore or dislike a brand, they’re free to do that.

But given the right stimuli, they’re also free to think highly of a brand.

Creating the right stimuli is what branding is all about.

From advertising to social media, from packaging to logo design, from website to call center, every customer touchpoint should build toward a continuum of carefully aligned brand experiences.

Taken together, those experiences can form a cluster of positive associations in the customer’s mind.

If you’re a brander, you need a well-defined promise that’s relevant to a target market and that’s different from everything else out there.

Armed with that, you can create a set of associations and expectations in the mind of the consumer that truly brings the brand to life.

You can’t control a brand any more than you can control a mind. However, you can guide and influence it. If you do that consistently and well, you’ll have a powerful brand.