What Does Branding Affect and Communicate?

  According to The American Marketing Association (AMA), it defines the brand as “a name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them integrated to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of others sellers.” Generally speaking, the existence of a brand is to convey a clear business message of the corporation, striking a chord in target audience.  To achieve such successful extent, the message usually has to contain the trait of introducing complete information of products and service, the confirmation of credibility, the motivation of buyers, and concretion of user loyalty (Lake, n.d.).

  However, with further category, a brand, like a double-edged sword, could be classified as brand identity and brand image. As the one able to be controlled and constructed by the enterprise, a brand identity is consisted of the color, image, name and the value that a firm wishes to build up for customers identified over competition; namely, brand identity seems to be a company’s weapon for exerting in business battlefield. On the other hand, with few right to control, the brand image reflects the individual and collective evaluation and judgment regarding the performance of brand communication. It derives from the customers and directly orientates these outside environmental opinions to the firms, enabling them to map out the direction of improvement to maintain brand status in the commercial battlefield. For better knowing how the brand effects target or gets swayed by opponents, the former, brand identity, is often under detailed examined and adjusted by business to strengthen the durability of effectiveness.

  Consequently, owing to managing the brand in attempt to tightly connect the brand value and culture with customers, the brand communication has already been a common-to-be-seen gimmick adopted by various corporations and rife around in visual and digital form. The essence of brand communication is to bridge the gap in the perceptions the target audiences have about the brand. The dimension of communication covers branding identity, re-building and brand promotion. All creative, planning and execution tasks are meticulously carried out to ensure high impact and effectiveness.

  In short, brand represents an organization’s products, ideas and people behind it. No matter in which way a brand appears in the era of information, brand is to dialogue with the crowd and communicate realistically in order to leave an authentic impression on the target group and to inspire the world around them with responsibility and commitment. The effects it brings along with include corporate culture, incredible data and message, sustainable and innovative products, trustworthy service, enthusiastic employees and thousands of fascinating ideas for a lively future.

Keywords:

*Brand

*Brand identity

*Brand image

*Brand communication

References:

Novamondo: Strategic brand design and digital communication [Motion picture]. (2011).

Communications. (n.d.). [Cleanslate].

     Retrieved from http://www.cleanslategroup.com/communications/strategy/

Lake, L. (n.d.). What is branding and how important is it to your marketing strategy?
     [About]. Retrieved from http://www.about.com/

Brand identity vs brand image: Brand management 101 [Motion picture]. (2012).

Should Branding Advertisements Communicate Authenticity?

  Nowadays, our living and society are bountifully teemed with diverse types of brands of organizations. Mostly, as a daily customer, the enterprise brands are the most impressive and easily seen no matter where we locate. A brand symbolizes the idea, culture, products and even the spirit of the owner organization by connecting and amplifying audience’s memories with them. Honestly speaking, these visual effects haven’t been any problem to people living in twenty-first century; it is the reality and authentic value that we care and examine the most. Since ages ago back in the commencement of commerce, brands are no longer just an image of a corporation; they are the first critical factor to distinguishing the fate of a company, which is decided by customers’ inclination and brand’s authenticity.

  Nevertheless, a huge shock has smacked most of customers in Taiwan into deliberation of thinking of the value of brand. The gutter oil scandal news broke out and spread widely couples of months ago, dismantling the myth of brand’s authenticity severely since most of the oil producers were labeled a national identification, like GDP, indicating the products are totally safe and under the standards by the Food and Drug Administration. Such a collapse in Taiwanese industry of food has caused questions emerging for rethinking: What makes customers blindly but totally trust the brand or identification; why an inauthentic brad is able to relay so much fake authenticity information to the audience; should we boycott the brand communication? The issue of branding actually involves different respects, including the method of branding, the mindset of customer and the necessity of branding. Each of them is connected together and it is expected to take much effort to figure the cause and effect.

  In previous paragraph is the case of inauthentic brand pretending to be authentic. But, after research, there’s also a case showing the failure of true authenticity. The Heinz is a food enterprise emphasizing manufacturing natural and eco-friendly products. The ingredients and materials the brand express are all authenticity; much to astonishment, there’s one time a colossal failure happened to Heinz’s branding as well, causing numerous loss. Here brings out another question that why the authentic brand that relay authenticity is not trusted by the customers either. Since both cases lead to negative end, we are offered the issue for discussion: If a brand will eventually fail, then whether it is necessary for a brand communicating authenticity or not?

  From personal perspective, the crux lies in the way of communication and the aim for authenticity. There could be several complex circumstances possibly affecting the effect of communication. By analyzing detailed key factors behind and ahead the brand, we might be able to distinguish the necessity of authenticity.

References:

Austin, R. (2014, September 8). Taiwan reels from gutter oil scandal.

     The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/

Joseph, J. (2014, October 1). Beloved brands connect emotionally to lead the pack.   

     [Entrepreneur]. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237890