All of us have our favorite brands and many of us wear our favorite brands on our sleeve – literally! There is rarely a Saturday that you can’t drive by my house and see me out mowing the lawn in my old AC/DC t-shirt—everyone knows that logo. I wear the shirt because I associate the logo with great music, good times in past and in present, and because I like the band so much I want people to know.
In business, logos and brands are equally important as they are in music, clothing and consumer goods. Your business may not gross like Coca Cola but that doesn’t mean your brand is any less important to your success. The key is presenting a moniker that people will like and associate with your business—however, it must be noted if AC/DC was a terrible band that 4-letter logo would mean nothing. A logo is nothing without some degree of “quality” to back it up. Keep this in mind too, when the Young Brothers started AC/DC nobody knew who they were, not one single person. They built that brand the same way you are building a brand for your business now.
When used as a noun, the word “brand” can refer to a company name, a product name, or a unique identifier such as a logo or trademark.
Before the old wooden split rail fences were used in ranching to keep one rancher’s cattle separate from other cattle, ranch owners “branded” their cattle so they could later identify their herd as being theirs.
This practice later made its way through a number of facets of business and industry including handmade wares, bakes goods, and all of the goods associated with the dawn of the industrialized world. It didn’t take long for high quality products (the cattle and wares) to become identifiable in the minds of consumers by the symbols and marks placed on the goods by the creator or owner. The buying public would actually look for certain marks because they had mentally associated those marks with better beef, higher quality, and a degree of sophistication.
The modern concept of branding grew out of the packaged goods industry and the process of branding has come to include much, much more than just creating a way to identify a product or company. Branding and advertising strategy today is used to create emotional attachment to products and companies. Branding creates a feeling of involvement, a sense of higher quality, and intangible qualities that surround the brand name.
WE ALL KNOW FAMOUS BRANDS – Nike, Mac, Coke etc. A question we often hear: How can I get my business or product to become a part of the list of most identifiable brands in the world? It’s easier than you might think.
Concentrate on your cattle! Your cattle may be logo and web designs (like the work we do) or they may take the form of consulting work, retail goods, or other work. So long as your work is great and people grow to favour the work you do in your field – your “brand” will rise to the top. Now, of course, with a great “symbol” on the end of your branding iron (a great logo!) combined with great work and a great product you’ve laid the ground work to appeal to the consumers sense of emotional attachment. Maybe one day I’ll be wearing a t-shirt with your business’ logo on it while I am out mowing the lawn. I’ll leave that to you.