What is included Into a Brand?

If your product or service is new or unique, thetas of branding is made easier. Since there are no pre-existing biases toward the product or service, it will be easy to manipulate customer attitudes.

More often, your product or service will have been in existence for a while and have direct competition. And if it doesn't, it probably soon will. Therefore, products that may be roughly equivalent in terms of their features need to have a brand identity that will impact consumer choice.

Brand identity is comprised of:

• Pricing - a component of value; higher prices may signify to consumers higher quality, and lower prices may suggest decreased value.

• Distribution - availability; limited distribution of a product or service may imply exclusivity to discerning consumers.

• Quality - which impacts satisfaction; obviously, higher quality will translate to more satisfied customers who come back again and again to purchase your offerings.

• Presence - prominence in the paid and unpaid media; products or services with a high-profile market presence will lead to brand recognition and increased sales.

• Awareness - top-of-mind awareness, residual awareness and recognition, which are directly related to presence; the higher your offering's awareness, the better your sales results will be.

• Reputation - enduring public opinion of brand character, which is built over time and difficult to change once established.

• Image - perceptions of brand traits or prototypical buyers; often represented by qualities the consumer relates to. Like reputation, image is difficult to change once established.

• Benefits - consumers may equate certain positive and negative consequences with use of your product or service; these may be warranted or unwarranted.

• Positioning salience - differentiation from the competition, which is established by a combination of all elements of the brand.

• Preference - a predisposition to buy displayed by consumers who are establishing brand loyalty.

• Share of market - increased market share is a direct result of a successful branding campaign.

• Customer commitment - loyalty is built through long-term branding and close consumer contact.