Elements of Branding

Brands are living components that we have been holding in our minds for years. What goes into them is both, logical and irrational. Products and services will continue to come and go but the residual experiences of customers who consume them will ultimately define the brand. These residual experiences of customers help brands develop an image.

The act of imprinting the brand image firmly in the minds of customers is a great challenge to marketers. The act of image building has two basic components, positioning and consistent delivery of quality.

Positioning a brand is about interaction with people, what they read in press, style of advertising, quality of products, and efficiency of after-sales service. Branding is nothing but positioning a product successfully in the minds of the customers. If a brand is well positioned in a customer’s mind, half the job of directing customers to buy their products or services is done. The power of a brand is all about how customers associate their feelings with the brand. Long-term customer association can be built only through building emotional associations around a product.

It is true that emotions help develop an everlasting image of a brand. In fact, they help the brand develop a god-like character. There are few other elements of branding, viz., functionality, point of differentiation, and the product’s value that gives brand strength to survive in the rough corporate weather. Once a brand attains a respectable status it needs to deliver consistent positive quality. It strengthens the bond between the customer and the brand and they tend to develop strong feeling for that particular brand. With passage of time, the very same positive feeling transform these customers into brand evangelists.

There are a few brands that successfully transform their customers into brand evangelists, like Apple Computer, Linux, and Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson is a brand which is built solely on emotional association and consistent quality delivery. It is perhaps the strongest brand in the motorcycle market. The other motorcycles in the market essentially with the same engineering quality and performance are not in a position to charge even one-third of the price of Harley Davidson is able to. Harley Davidson customers are always ready to wait for months to get a motorcycle. Definitely, Harley Davidson is one among the very few cult brands the global market has. Cult branding is more than just strong branding, though not all the brands are positioned to become cult brands. A few of the well known cult brands are Oprah Winfrey, Volkswagen Beetle, Star Trek, World Wrestling Enterprise, Apple Computer, Linux, and Harley Davidson.