When we choose a product and decide to buy it, it’s often because we recognise, and are happy with, the brand. To recognise the brand, we also just need to see the colour used or the particular logo to know who or what that brand is.
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Brands
According to Forbes, the brand is what the customer thinks about when he or she sees the brand name. It encompasses all of the things that they know about the brand offering in terms of information and also the emotions that it produces.
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Brand Perception
Brand identity doesn’t just affect the products we buy but also
the services we choose. When we can a plumber or electrician, it’s because we
trust him or have heard of him positively. This is a brand too. We have a
perception that we build over time from our own experience or through looking
for information, or sometimes it’s because of what advertising has told us
about the service. No matter how we’ve built up the picture, the brand
perception is formed and it’s how we choose to book a service or buy a product
or not.
How Has It Changed?
Once, brand perception was built up through advertising on TV,
radio and in magazines, but now this has changed completely thanks to the internet.
Now brand perception is also built through information people can find online,
through Google searches, reviews and from public experiences that can be found
on social media and on blogs.
Why Is It Important?
Now in the era where people can search, companies of all sizes
need to be able to have some level of control of their image and their
reputation. A video or a shiny brochure isn’t enough anymore to convince people
of a company’s credentials. A company needs to be able to manage the
information that potential customers can search for online. The image created
and controlled by the company is called brand identity. Working with a branding
agency such as Really Helpful
Marketing is a good way to ensure your company has the brand identity
you want.
Aligning the perception that people have of your brand with the desired brand
identity that the company wants to create is imperative to creating a
successful brand.
