What is Branding?

Ever wonder: what is branding?

The truth is you already have an intuitive sense of what branding is, because it’s actually something that comes quite naturally. See, branding is just like life. In life, as a human being, your brand as an individual is the clothes you wear, how you talk, who you associate with, what characteristics you exude. In short, it’s your personality and how you represent that to others. Now, companies aren’t people, but a company still needs a personality in order to attract business. So what is branding? It’s building and maintaining a company personality that interacts with your desired client base.

At a glance

There are surface-level, external ways to represent this personality. People can make assumptions about you based on the way you present yourself—if you’re wearing skinny jeans and big glasses, a lot of people will assume you like indie music and drink PBR on the weekends, whether that’s true or not. The image of your business works in much the same way. The logos, colors, name, and visual presentation you choose for your company are a huge part of branding that causes people to make snap judgments about what your business is all about. You want to choose your company’s external qualities carefully to prevent any miscommunication.

Distinguishing Qualities

If you and your friends were all exactly the same, you might not value them as much, and you could probably expect the same thing in return. If you use the same buzzwords (think quality, innovation, and synergy) as everyone else in your field, you aren’t setting yourself apart. When an audience hears a message they’ve already heard, people’s eyes gloss over. At that point, they are probably lost to you forever. The most important thing to demonstrate in your branding is what sets your company apart from all the other ones. Even if ‘quality’ is a differentiator for you, you’re not going to convince people of this by telling them. ‘Quality,’ ‘trustworthiness,’ ‘innovation,’ are all traits to be seen, not explained.

Human Experience

When you dig a little deeper into the question of what is branding, you’re trying to create experiences that communicate and connect with your customer base on a human level. When you talk to people in human terms, you let them know that you understand them as more than just a walking wallet. You’re like them; the things that are important to them are important to you too. People respond best to personal connections, so humanizing your brand is a key factor when it comes to attracting and retaining business.

So what is branding and how do you go about establishing a successful brand? At A Hundred Monkeys, we’re experts in branding, rebranding, and company naming that connects you with the people you’re trying to reach. We take a humanity-based approach to all of our branding efforts to see that your business develops a personality that people want to associate with. So if you’re looking for guidance in the branding process, contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.