MARKETING MATTERS

BRANDING IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD. LOGAN WEDGWOOD HIGHLIGHTS HOW SUCCESSFUL MARKETERS WORK TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION OF THEIR COMPANY, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

LET’S START by establishing what a brand is.

It is a customer’s (or potential customer’s) perception of your business or product or service. So, when we talk about branding, we are trying to influence a customer’s perception.

Branding is the act of influencing perceptions. Yes, sometimes this is a logo or some fancy new signage. However that’s not all. It could also be the way you make opening a courier package feel like getting a Christmas present. And the way your people are dressed.

The most ‘trusted’ brands in the world have a perception of being the companies that do what they say they will. Think about your favourite chocolate brands (the ones that don’t use palm oil) or the most reliable car? Think about that computer company that makes a bunch of other products that you trust enough, by extension, to also buy. Think about that place with all the cartoon characters that you would love to take your kids to? Think about that motorcycle company that is just undoubtedly badass. You believe in their brand promise, because they deliver it time and again.

I would also hazard a guess that you know every one of the companies I’m talking about here, even though I didn’t name them. They have brand equity in your mind. And they have this because they have proactively worked to influence your perception of their company, products or services. How did they do this? They understood that buying isn’t a rational decision. As much as we would like to think it is, it isn’t. And because of this, they worked to influence our emotions.

They made the early, ethical decision to ditch palm oil and tell us why. They acquired most of the aspects of their supply chain to ensure the highest level of certainty when buying their cars. They made sure the same level of innovation went into their other products as applied to their computers, and that we experience this when we unbox them. They showed you how your kids could feel like the happiest kids on earth. And they showed you that the most badass people rode only these motorcycles – notorious since 1903.

All of these brands influenced your emotions. Either those related to your ethics, your need for certainty, or your self-image. Their marketing told you stories and you believed them. Now you can’t think of anyone else who does the things they do as well as they do.

So what do you want your brand to stand for?

When people talk about your company behind your back, what do you want them to say?

If you aren’t telling true stories as to why they should think this way (and aren’t backing them up with action) then you aren’t influencing their perceptions or building brand equity. Start telling true stories. Once you tell a good enough story, other people will also start telling it for you.

“When people talk about your company behind your back, what do you want them to say?”