What sets a successful business apart from the rest? Doing even a modest amount of research on this topic reveals that all of the most successful businesses on the planet are brand driven. All of those companies have instilled an expectation in the minds of their customers; people know exactly what to expect when they purchase a product from one of these brands. Below is a look at what makes branding such an important part of your business.

1. Your Brand Should Be Considered an Asset and Cultivated as Such

When managed correctly, your brand can be representative of a massive portion of your company’s total value, even though it isn’t really a tangible asset. The impact a well-cultivated brand can have on market performance is staggering. This means you should be finding ways to present your brand in a positive and enticing light at every opportunity. For example, if you do not have an in-house creative team, it would be a good idea to recruit a professional design agency like 4040 Creative to build your company an impactful and contemporary digital presence.

2. Smart Brand Building Is About Playing the Long Game

Long-running brands tend to spawn a dedicated following of loyal customers. This is due in a large part to their longevity. Longevity breeds familiarity, which in turn breeds emotional attachment. For instance, people will buy a particular brand of washing machine because their parents owned one when they were growing up. This is why you should be building your brand to stand the test of time.

3. Image Is Everything

Further to the previous point, loyalty among customers can also be created by meticulously crafting an image that is associated with your brand. Allowing customers to associate a particular lifestyle or degree of social status with your brand will create return customers. As an example, Apple leverages this all the time – they have crafted a brand of boutique technology with products that convey status. Their customers buy into this image and are fiercely loyal as a result.

4. Brand Perception Can Influence Market Value

Brands that have built an image of reliability may find that products associated with their brand have a higher value placed upon them by resellers and consumers alike. In the past, companies that have created a culture of trust and recognition around their brands have been able to charge up to 50% more than their closest competitors and still retain a dominant market share. Your product may be no better or worse than your competition, but your customers believe that yours is worth more and they are willing to pay extra for that assurance.

5. Your Brand Tells Customers What You Are About

The key to crafting a memorable, successful brand lies in a number of different areas. What sort of feel are you going for with your product? What sort of customer are you hoping to court? Everything, from your logo to the way your customer service call centre answers the phone, should give your customers a very clear idea of the kind of company you are.

The very best brands always have a strong core idea. This idea must be committed to by everyone within the company, from the executive level on down. With this principle in mind, you will be able to build a brand that will stand the test of time and maybe even become a household name.