When does it become a brand?

Sruthi Chandrasekar

How does a product become a brand?

How does a brand enter your subconscious mind?

What influences a user’s decision?

These are questions that every marketer comes across while branding, questions to which he finds a varied array of answers. Now, what branding is and how it is done may be known to many, but the implementation gets tangled along the way.

“They said I could be anything I wanted…”

It’s as simple as that, You make your brand out to be anything you want it to be seen as. Want to project thought leadership? Do it. Want your work culture to reflect in your brand? Show it off. Want your brand to stand out in an industry? Talk about it.

What exactly is Branding? #

Branding is a process of building a unique name or image with a consistent theme in the followers’ mind, right? For this to be effective, it is important to have a proper mechanism to put your brand out there and for the audience to perceive it for what it is.

Have a consistent theme #

Every organisation wants to reach its followers’ minds somehow by creating a consistent image of how they want to be seen. They create and build such standard images and perceptions of their brands that become very well etched into the minds of their followers.

Build your company’s brand equity #

Brand equity is the commercial value that is derived from a consumer perception of the brand itself.

We know that branding is important because, if implemented right, it results in raising your brand equity.

Take Airbnb, for instance. #

Airbnb is an online marketplace where homeowners can offer their property, or a part of their property, for rent. Most companies still have a product, even if nobody is buying. Not Airbnb! They know that their customers are the brand itself, which is why they don’t tell their company’s stories. Instead, they get their customers to tell their own stories. This is so important to them that they have a whole section on their website tabbed as Stories from the Airbnb Community.

The use of articles, video, and imagery to show that Airbnb hosts are normal, interesting people, just like the ones who stay with them, helps to put the minds of potential guests at ease, and can even help to create a buzz about the prospect of enjoying a more “authentic” travel experience with the Airbnb brand.

A cool way of positioning themselves that will inevitably increase the brand equity for a wholly customer-based brand.

An effortless way of branding #

It becomes a necessity to communicate to your followers constantly and put social media to the best use instead of simply making a presence online for the sake of, well, just “being there”.

We know the speed at which social media today can make a post reach people and have them talking about it no time. Can you make every post go viral? Is there a magic formula to do so?

No.

The key is to post things you find interesting and what runs close to your brand’s identity. People want to know who you are and what your brand is about. Therefore, it is vital to stay on track in order not to confuse your followers or users. The efforts should be focused on the culture your brand brings to your audience to make them connect and identify with your brand’s credibility.

Let’s look at Fully Filmy #

Starting off as “minimal Kollywood posters”, a mere facebook page for mass entertainment, Fully Filmy has now become a full-fledged cinema merchandise brand. All through a very simple methodology to tap into their followers’ interests on facebook.

So, what did they do? They used a number of interactive posts to communicate to their followers and understand what exactly would further enhance their brand. While at it, they kept them entertained and engaged. It was a win-win.

Have you told your brand’s story yet? #

If not, what’s stopping you?

It is all about choosing a simplified mechanism that does not focus only on creating viral posts. Setting objectives and having a focused strategy for social media engagement can result in a positive increase of brand equity.

Sruthi Chandrasekar is Influx’s youngest marketing executive. She has just graduated from Madras Christian College, Chennai, with a degree in business administration. Vivacious and bubbling with enthusiasm, Sruthi loves to read and research new branding concepts and topics. She currently assists with our branding exercises and video campaigns.