It’s no secret that in order to be successful, every product, company, and organization needs to have a recognizable brand. A product that’s well-received by a target audience can transform a business. As consumers become savvier, businesses need to become more strategic in their branding efforts to ensure their products and services are met with high demand.
Over the last few years, technology has certainly levelled the field and upped the retail game, where e-commerce has made a major splash and online shopping and video shopping have emerged as game changers. As the world embraces the digital era and consumers’ demands evolve, businesses and brands need to change with the times too.
This is why, today, branding holds major significance. Your brand is a representation of who you are as a business, and using effective brand strategies can help your business to grow and reach beyond your target audience. A brand is not dependent upon the time period in the market. Rather it is dependent on the mindset, and the strategies followed.
However, when it comes to branding strategies, there is no one-size-fits-all option. There are several types of branding that may add value to your company depending on your target audience, industry, budget, and marketing campaigns. Here are a few types of branding strategies that have the potential to build brand equity for your business.
Company Name Branding
Well-known brands leverage the popularity of their own company names to improve brand recognition. Logos, slogans, packaging or colours are generally recognized by consumers in association with the business as a whole. For instance, companies like Coca-Cola and Porsche rely on company name branding to engage with their audiences.
Personal Branding
Personal branding describes branding that is used for an individual person, instead of branding for a whole business. This type of branding is often used to establish a person’s character, personality, or work as a brand. Celebrities, politicians, thought leaders, and athletes often use this form of branding to present the best version of themselves to the public.
Product Branding
Product branding is the most common type of branding. You see product branding everywhere you go. Through words, colours, and images, product branding sets apart one item from another. Effective product branding starts with an understanding of the end consumer, their desires and the competitive landscape that you’re entering. All of these variables help determine the brand strategy, which will in turn, impact the product roadmap.
Corporate Branding
One of the more reputation-focused types of branding, corporate branding is about making a cultivated name for an entire corporation. The public will associate the organization’s name with a promise – that they stand behind the services they offer, and that they have a verifiable, positive performance record. Good corporate branding has long-term effects, as these companies can rely on name brand-recognition; customers tend to automatically trust new products when they are associated with a brand they already recognize.
Individual Branding
Each brand has a separate name, putting it into a de facto competition against other brands from the same company. Individual brand names naturally allow greater flexibility by permitting a variety of different products, of differing quality, to be sold without confusing the consumer’s perception of what business the company is in or diluting higher quality products.
Service Branding
Service branding leverages the needs of the customer. Companies that use service branding seek to provide their customers with world-class service. They aim to use excellent customer service as a way to provide value to their customers.
Co-Branding
Co-branding is a form of branding that connects companies together. Essentially, co-branding is a marketing partnership between two or more businesses. This helps brands impact each other positively, and it may result in one growing its business, spreading brand awareness, and breaking into new markets.
Online Branding
Online branding, also known as internet branding, helps businesses to position themselves as a part of the online marketplace. This type of branding includes a company’s website, social media platforms, blogs, and other online content. Most companies use some aspect of online or internet branding in today’s marketplace.
So, there you have it – 8 types of branding strategies that you can use to make it big in your respective realm. Building a brand includes various elements that require patience to develop and execute. The entire world is going digital and with the kind of noise that virtual shopping is making among consumers around the world, branding right and branding well is imperative for a business to succeed.
As you move forward with understanding the needs of your business and what you hope to deliver to your consumers, you will be able to select the right brand strategy for your business, and your brand will grow and delight your customers.
