What is brand marketing?

"Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." These words from Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, provide an entry into the captivating world of brand marketing. Beyond the surface of logos and color palettes, brand marketing is an art that influences perceptions, forges connections, and transcends the realm of products and services.

Brand marketing acts as the foundation on which companies build relationships and trust with their customers, inspiring loyalty that helps to drive lifetime value. It’s no surprise, then, that a strong brand marketing strategy should be high on your priority list.

But what is a brand?

At its core, a brand is like the identity and personality of your company. It's not just about having a mascot and a slogan but the values, experiences, and expectations that you and your customers share. It's about the story behind your products, how people see you, and how they feel when engaging with your company.

In this extensive exploration of brand marketing, we will explore the intricacies and understand why it's a linchpin in today's fiercely competitive business landscape. Read on to discover how to create a strong brand marketing strategy and leverage it for lasting success.

What is brand marketing?

While marketing in general refers to the tactics you use to sell your products or services, brand marketing refers to the ways you create an image and personality that people will associate with your products.

Effective brand marketing is about creating an emotional experience for customers that extends far beyond the product or service itself. This includes everything from a company's name and logo to its social media presence, website design, in-store experience, customer service interactions, packaging design, and even how employees dress. By building a unique identity through brand marketing elements like visuals, language, tone of voice, and storytelling, brands transport their audiences into worlds of possibilities that capture imaginations.

One way to conceptualize brand marketing is to consider it the yin to performance marketing's yang. Performance marketing is focused on driving customers to perform immediate actions like clicks, conversions, and sales. It is inherently quantitative and data-driven with a short-term timeframe. Examples include pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, email marketing, ad retargeting, and affiliate marketing.

Brand marketing vs performance marketing

Brand marketing is more long-term and qualitative in nature. Results are much harder to measure and don't manifest overnight. Instead, brand marketing seeks to build trust through sustained engagement and create an emotional connection that inspires loyalty and encourages customers to become brand advocates. Brand marketing strategies include establishing brand guidelines, creating memorable customer experiences, sponsoring events, crafting compelling content, activating brand ambassadors, and conducting public relations campaigns.

Brand marketing is the foundation upon which all other marketing efforts are built. A strong brand can make all your marketing campaigns more effective, as people are already familiar with and trust your brand. Ideally, your brand marketing and performance marketing will work hand in hand to get the best results.

Why is branding important?

The effects of a solid brand marketing strategy cannot be overstated for several compelling reasons:

1. Standing out: Successful brand marketing distinguishes you from competitors in a crowded marketplace. It acts as a beacon that guides consumers towards your products or services amid the sea of choices.
2. Trust and credibility: A well-established brand builds trust and credibility. When people recognize and trust your brand, they are more inclined to make purchases and become loyal patrons.
3. Consistency: Branding ensures uniformity in messaging, design, and customer experience. This brand consistency nurtures a sense of reliability and dependability, which is crucial for nurturing long-lasting customer relationships.
4. Loyalty: Brands that strike a chord with their target audience create a band of loyal followers. These loyal customers make repeat purchases and become advocates, spreading positive word-of-mouth and attracting new business.
5. Premium pricing: Strong brands often command premium pricing. Customers are willing to pay more for products or services associated with a brand they trust and admire.
6. Endurance: Effective brand marketing creates valuable assets for companies. Strong brands can adapt to changing market conditions and expand into new product lines or markets, all while maintaining their core identity.

When crafted and managed with care, brand marketing can become an enduring asset that gives companies a leg up in the competitive environment. Ideally, your brand and brand marketing strategy should be polished and refined over time, keeping pace with changing times while remaining recognizable and familiar. This is a tough balancing act that can pay off in the form of increased customer engagement, brand loyalty, and higher sales.

Noteworthy brand marketing campaigns

Throughout the years, a few exceptionally notable brand marketing campaigns have won the hearts of consumers, propelled sales, and forever etched these brands into the collective consciousness — think Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign or Apple’s 'Think Different' campaign. The following are three examples of companies that have consistently used brand marketing strategies to great effect.

Heineken

Heineken, the renowned Dutch beer brand, has executed an exceptional brand marketing strategy over the years. They have diligently reached out to a vast target audience through sponsorships of major events like the UEFA Champions League. The company has also consistently used humor to captivate audiences. Notable campaigns include the “Walk in Fridge” campaign, which features a group of men screaming excitedly after being shown a friend's walk-in closet-sized beer fridge, or “The Entrance” which positions the brand as a symbol of sophistication and adventure by showing a charismatic character who effortlessly wins over everyone he encounters with his charm, confidence, and the mere presence of a Heineken beer bottle.

Aside from these memorable campaigns, Heineken has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to brand assets. This includes its iconic green bottle and red star logo, which have remained unchanged for decades. This steadfastness has played a pivotal role in cementing Heineken's brand recognition and memorability.

Slack

Slack's branding exemplifies the harmonious blend of simplicity and functionality, resulting in a distinctive and influential brand identity. At the heart of Slack's branding lies its logo - a vibrant and uncomplicated hashtag (#) that instantly conveys its mission: facilitating connections between individuals and ideas.

The selection of a solitary, effortlessly identifiable symbol embodies the core of Slack's service, which revolves around fostering team cohesion. The utilization of vibrant and amiable colors in their branding, including the unmistakable hue of aubergine, further bolsters this welcoming approach. It stands out from the conventional aesthetics prevalent in the tech industry, which are often characterized by cool and corporate blues and grays.

Slack's branding goes beyond just visual elements; it is deeply ingrained in the entire user experience. The platform boasts a clean, intuitive, and clutter-free user interface, enabling seamless communication for its users. This unwavering dedication to user-friendliness perfectly aligns with Slack's mission to simplify work communication, highlighting the empowering nature of technology without overwhelming its users.

Slack is a unicorn in the brand marketing world, since it gained a large percentage of its huge number of users through word of mouth. But brand marketing still plays a role. In a Podcast, former Head of Growth Marketing at Slack, Rachel Hepworth emphasized the role of their brand marketing strategy. A priority was protecting the Slack brand, choosing long-term sustainability over short-term quick wins.

Bumble

Created by Whitney Wolfe Herd, the dating app Bumble leverages unique positioning and an empowering brand voice to stand out from competitors. At the heart of Bumble's branding lies its unique value proposition: a safe space for women to make meaningful connections. The messaging surrounding the company is unapologetically female-forward, with a focus on empowering and celebrating women's autonomy.

Nothing demonstrates this differentiation-based approach more than Bumble's core feature of only allowing female users to initiate conversations. This creates an environment that is free from male-initiated harassment and allows female users to forge meaningful connections on their own terms. The warm and welcoming color palette, featuring bright yellows and clean whites, adds a touch of positivity and approachability to the app's visual identity, creating an inviting atmosphere for users seeking meaningful connections.

Bumble’s brand marketing reflects their approach. They only market to women, and focus on the female perspective of the dating world. For example, a recent campaign used pre-raphaelite paintings featuring sleeping women and the slogan “exhausted” to help relate to their target audience’s experience of dating.

Bumble's unique brand positioning extends beyond romance, branching into the domains of friendship and professional networking with Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, respectively. This multifaceted approach underscores Bumble's commitment to facilitating genuine human connections across various facets of life. Bumble has emerged as a symbol of empowerment, equality, and meaningful interactions in the digital age, making it not only a standout brand in the dating app industry but also a catalyst for reshaping online relationships with a unique touch of female empowerment.

Bumble goes beyond just dating, offering unique platforms like Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz for fostering friendships and professional networking. This multifaceted approach to connecting people — whether for romance, friendship, or career opportunities — reflects Bumble's dedication to nurturing authentic human connections in an era dominated by otherwise shallow digital interactions.

How do you measure your brand marketing efforts?

Evaluating brand marketing effectiveness can pose challenges, given that brand perception and sentiment often defy precise measurement. Nevertheless, various methods and key performance indicators (KPIs) can offer valuable insights into your brand's performance. The following are some common methods used by larger organizations to measure their brand marketing efforts.

Customer research

For larger brands, extensive customer research is a common approach. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews are employed to gauge customer sentiment, brand awareness, and brand loyalty. These insights inform your brand marketing strategy and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Guided brand awareness

Tracking brand awareness is pivotal in comprehending your brand's familiarity among your target audience. Tools like Google Trends and social listening tools enable you to monitor mentions and discussions related to your brand or brand marketing campaigns.

Brand lift studies

Brand lift studies aim to quantify the impact of your brand marketing endeavors on consumer behavior. Following a brand campaign, they measure shifts in brand perception and behavior, such as increased website visits, search queries, or social media engagement.

Brand loyalty (repeat purchases)

For numerous brands, brand loyalty serves as a critical indicator of success. Monitoring repeat purchases, customer retention rates, and referrals offers insights into the strength of your brand's relationship with customers.

While measuring brand impact might pose challenges, a combination of various methods and KPIs can furnish you with a more comprehensive understanding of your brand's performance and the influence of your brand marketing efforts.

For smaller companies and startups

Brand marketing often appears elusive for smaller companies and startups, especially when competing against established industry giants with substantial resources. Nonetheless, establishing a strong brand is not the sole privilege of large corporations. Here are some practical tips to help smaller businesses understand whether they are on the right track or not.

• Customer surveys: The most reliable way to gain insights into your customers’ perceptions of your brand is to ask them directly. Utilizing customer surveys allows you to solicit feedback from your target market, and use the results as a starting point for improving your brand marketing strategy.
• Competition analysis and benchmarking: Reviewing competitors' strategies can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your own brand marketing initiatives. Assess their approach to branding, customer engagement, and promotion. Then, use any insightful observations to inform your own strategies and tactics.
• Brand awareness tracking: Assessing the impact of your campaigns is far from easy for small businesses. One way to measure the success of your campaigns is to track brand awareness. This can be done by measuring the frequency with which your company name, product, or service name is mentioned across different platforms.
• Social media engagement: Social media is a powerful tool for brand building and awareness. Track engagement across different platforms (e.g. likes, comments, shares) to get an idea of which content resonates most with your audience and drives the most engagement.

5 tips for a robust brand marketing strategy

Unlocking the full potential of your brand marketing strategy requires a blend of creativity and precision. Here are five dynamic tips to sculpt a robust and enduring brand:  

1. Develop a crystal-clear brand identity: Begin by chiseling out your brand's identity, values, and mission with the precision of a master sculptor. Every touchpoint should echo your brand's personality and marketing messaging consistently. A robust brand identity is more than just recognition; it's the sculpted cornerstone of a profound connection with your audience.
2. Connect by knowing your audience: To truly connect with your target audience, delving deep into their psyche is crucial. Understand their desires, quirks, and pains. Just like a skilled tailor, use market research to customize your brand messaging. Craft it precisely to address their concerns and aspirations. By tapping into their deepest emotions and desires, you can cultivate and nurture brand loyalty. This profound connection is the key to successful brand marketing.
3. Craft engaging content: Immerse your audience in a tapestry of high-quality, relevant, and captivating content. This is the brushstroke that paints your brand's narrative, aligning seamlessly with your values and resonating profoundly with your audience. Content is not just information; it's the artist's palette to build brand awareness and authority.
4. Brand management: Just as a symphony requires harmony, it is crucial to maintain consistent branding across all platforms. Whether it is your website, social media presence, marketing materials, or customer interactions, let the same colors, logo, and messaging serenade your audience. Consistency serves as the melodious thread that etches your brand into the memory of your audience.
5. Measure the impact: Though seemingly intangible, brand impact can be partially grasped by observing the rhythm of key performance indicators (KPIs). Monitor website traffic, social media engagement, customer feedback, and sales data with vigilant eyes. These metrics are the musical notes that unveil your brand's performance, empowering you to fine-tune your composition for a resounding applause.

Brand marketing in a nutshell

Your brand is not merely a logo or color scheme; it's a living, breathing identity that shapes perceptions and cultivates profound connections. Crafting this identity is about narrating your brand's story in a manner that resonates with your target audience and engenders trust. Effective branding distinguishes you from competitors, nurtures customer loyalty, and empowers you to command premium pricing.

The effective case studies mentioned above underscore the capacity of branding to engender memorable and influential brand identities. While measuring brand impact may present challenges, customer research, brand awareness tracking, brand lift studies, and brand loyalty analysis can provide invaluable insights.

Remember, your brand is the conversation people have about you when you're not in the room, so ensure it's a conversation worth having.