BRANDING

Branding is the art of managing the brand in the memories of the audience. It can be done by creating a byline which can describe who and what u stand for. It should establish the clarity of purpose. Always define a target group and make sure that the branding speaks to those groups. Brand should be marketed in such a way that the prospect should see the brand as the only solution to their problem.
It involves three stages: Advertising, Marketing and PR. Advertising represent’s the identity to the market.
Branding create consumer trust and emotional attachments. As a result, they foster relationships between consumers and products that withstand pricing wars, transcend offers from new competitors, and even overcome rare lapses in product or service excellence.

Advantages of branding:
Consumers are willing to pay more to buy brands because they believe that the brands deliver outstanding and desirable benefits.

Consumers stay loyal to brands, buying them more often, in greater volume, and without the need for promotional incentives.

Retailers provide brands greater store visibility because they know that brands drive sales and result in higher store revenues.

Brand owners don’t need to launch new offerings from scratch. They can grow their businesses by leveraging their brands into product and line.

Branding is a circular process that involves these actions:

1. Product definition: You can brand products, services, businesses, even people or personalities. But you can’t start the branding process without first knowing what it is you’re trying to brand and whether your brand will be a one-and-only or one of several in your organization.

2. Positioning: Each brand needs to fill a unique, meaningful, and available spot in the marketplace and in the consumer’s mind.

3. Promise: The promise you make and keep is the backbone of your brand and the basis of your reputation.

4. Presentation: How you present your brand can make or break your abilityto develop consumer interest and credibility in your offering. Start with a great name and logo , and then launch your marketplace communications with professionally produced and compelling packaging and communicationswhere, and how to proceed as you send your brand message into
the marketplace.

5. Persistence: This is the point in the branding cycle where too many brands lose steam. After brands are launched, brand owners often get tired of their own looks and messages and begin to improvise with new looks, new messages, and even new brand personalities and promises. Just when consistency is most necessary in order to gain clarity and confidence in the marketplace, brands that lack persistence go off track.

6. Perception analysis: In a consumer’s mind — which is where brands live and thrive — a brand is a set of beliefs about what a company offers, promises, and stands for. Great brands continually monitor brand perceptions to see that they’re in alignment with the brand owner’s aspirations and in synch with consumer wants and needs.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com/