What Exactly Is Branding, and Why Is It Important?

“Brands are essentially patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exist in the minds of people.”— Tom Goodwin

Branding is important because it not only creates a memorable impression on consumers, but it also informs your customers and clients about what to expect from your business. It is a method of distinguishing yourself from competitors and clarifying what makes you the better choice. Your brand is created to be an accurate representation of who you are as a company and how you want to be perceived.

A brand can be developed in a variety of ways, including advertising, customer service, social responsibility, reputation, and visuals. All of these elements (and many more) come together to form one distinct and (hopefully) eye-catching profile.

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What exactly is branding?

If branding could be explained simply, there would be less ambiguity and dissonance surrounding the concept. Still, a solid understanding of branding necessitates a solid understanding of business, marketing, and even (human) relational fundamentals. Branding is such a broad concept that a correct definition that truly encompasses everything it represents would not shed much light on the subject on its own. However, in order to reduce the spread of outdated, incorrect, and incomplete information about branding, we offer a more comprehensive definition:

Branding is the ongoing process of identifying, creating, and managing the assets and actions that shape a brand's perception in the minds of stakeholders.

When comparing this definition to the official Cambridge definition, it is clear that the latter (Cambridge) provides more surface-level information, giving the reader a false sense of understanding. This could be one of the reasons why most people believe that definition is correct and use it to build their knowledge of the subject. In reality, basing your understanding of branding on a definition that reduces it to only one element (visual identity) causes every other branding-related concept to fall short when connecting the dots.

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Why is Maggi called Maggi rather than noodles?

This happens occasionally when a brand becomes so strong and has such a strong subculture surrounding it that brand recognition outweighs even product features. Xerox is a classic case in point; their dominance in the photocopy industry was so complete that it is now common parlance to say you want a document xeroxed when you really mean photocopied. Maggi's brand recognition is the strongest in the instant noodle space in India. Other brands are now available, but Maggi was the only one for a long time. It's understandable that people confuse the brand with the product.

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