Branding has been a hot topic lately, a term that's become increasingly well-known in the marketing world. In short, branding refers directly to brand management. What does that mean? It involves developing and implementing strategies and various efforts to give a company a strong position in the market, with the goal of generating brand value by the end of the process.
And what does that look like in practice? Let's think about a plain t-shirt with no print or logo whatsoever. Now let's imagine that same shirt with the Gucci logo on it—suddenly everything changes, right? This simple example shows the power certain companies hold, and that's exactly what we consider brand value. You're probably already thinking of a few examples yourself, and maybe you've even wondered how to get your own company to that level of recognition. We're here to give you some tips!
So how do you measure branding value?
First off, the conversation around branding can't stay purely conceptual or emotional—it needs to be brought into the financial realm, and that applies to startups and big companies alike. Branding is no longer just a long-term build; the investment needs to happen now.
Check out some points you need to consider to give your brand the recognition it deserves:
Financial value
You can rely on specialized consulting firms that assign a dollar figure to brand value. This is commonly seen in rankings of big brands, referred to as the 'most valuable', and in merger or acquisition scenarios.
Social media metrics
Another way to gauge the strength of a given brand is its presence on social media. Large follower counts and high engagement rates are often linked to positive branding results. But is that really the case?
Media metrics
And speaking of numbers, in order to keep track of how well your initiatives are performing, it's possible to borrow some performance indicators for branding purposes. In this case, the brand manager focuses on views, click-through rate, and reach, potentially even tracking it down through the conversion funnel.
Consumer research
You know the traditional market survey? Well, you can gather samples of people over different periods of time to gauge their awareness of your brand, drawing on the identification and evaluation of specific attributes and even associations.
So, how have you been building, measuring, and proving the branding value of your brand? It's worth remembering that solid branding work adds far too much value to stay confined to the realm of concepts.
