From the course: Understanding Business

Branding

From the course: Understanding Business

Branding

“

- People have personalities, companies have brands. For example, think about the way you dress, your haircut, the way you talk, the people you like to hangout with, your attitude at work, the things you like posting on social media. These are the things that define you to the world outside. People may see you as fun and friendly, disciplined and hardworking, or perhaps quiet and private. To change the way others view you requires that you make different choices, or change your behavior. And interestingly, when you do things that are out of character, it surprises people. Sometimes upsetting these people, other times it makes them excited. These things you do, they define you, they are your brand, your way to communicate with those around you. Companies try and do the same thing, they train to define their values to customers through their branding. Consider three popular companies: Starbucks, Apple and Disney. For each company, do you know their values and corporate colors? Could you describe their employee culture in one word? What do you think of their ads, commercials, and social media posts? Are they a friendly company? Do you think their products are fun or maybe innovative? In most cases, for companies like Disney, Apple and Starbucks, whether we like them or not, we can answer all of these questions pretty quickly. This doesn't happen on accident. When you have thousands of employees, it takes a lot of work to develop a corporate identity or brand, but branding is important to customers, and when done right, good branding can build customer loyalty. I mean, we all know someone that is devoted to Starbucks coffee, or that's always excited about the new Apple device, or that friend that plans their annual trip to Disneyland. These folks identify with the brand of their favorite company. They know what to expect and it makes them feel happy and comforted. But branding can also be important internally. When managers understand the company's brand, it helps managers choose the right candidate for the job. It also helps them properly train the team and executives use the company's brand for guidance on new products and also how to word social media posts. Nowadays, people have so many choices, they can buy so many products, they can work for so many companies, each decision comes with some risk. People want to believe in something, they want to trust that they're making a good decision. Branding helps to find success, companies that have a strong and consistent brand give people comfort. These are the companies we want to buy from and these are the organization we'd love to work for.

Contents