Here at Mediaura, we interact with brands every day.
When a client comes to us asking for marketing services for their brand, sometimes they ask us to create a logo or to do a whole rebrand for their company. Logos are important because the logo is the main way we identify a brand. A logo with equity is part of what it means to have a well-defined brand.
But, a brand is much more than a logo.
A brand is the emotional and psychological associations that consumers have with your business, product, or service. Every experience that a consumer has with your company builds their perception of you. That is your brand.
What consumers feel about a brand says a lot more about the brand than a logo alone ever could. As Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff said in Groundswell, “Your brand is whatever your customers say it is.”
Let’s talk about McDonald’s.
What do you think of when you think of the golden arches? Or maybe you’re not thinking of the iconic arches at all.
Maybe you’re thinking about the food.
Or a customer service experience you had there.
McDonald’s has an iconic logo recognized around the globe, but their brand is not defined only by their logo, but by the emotional aftertaste they leave in the minds of consumers after each encounter with their company.
Research agency Kantar Millward Brown places McDonald’s as the Most Valuable Global Brand in the world. But McDonald’s still has problems, just like every other brand.
McDonald’s has struggled to find new customers in recent years. A brand that continually reinvents itself to keep up with changing trends, McDonald’s greatest challenge is the consumer’s shift in the last 20 years to be more concerned with health.
While research shows that McDonald’s rates high in consumer’s perceptions for value, it lands at the very bottom for quality. Millennials, in general, have a hard time accepting the McDonald’s brand because of it’s perceived lack of authenticity, probably due to the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of the food.
Every company, whether a fast-food empire like McDonald’s or a local small business, has to be concerned with the consumer experience in order to be a successful brand.
When you think about your brand, consider the relationship your consumers have with it. Compare the experience consumers have with your brand with the experiences they have with your competitors.
If it helps, think of your brand as a person. Choose the kind of emotional response you want consumers to have to your brand and create that emotional anchor to be crafted with consistency and frequency.
With brand ownership, you craft the kind of experiences you want your consumer to have when interacting with your company, and that is invaluable.
Here at Mediaura, our team is equipped to help you create or manage your brand. Whether we are creating a logo or designing a marketing campaign for a company, everything we do is purposed to align with the brand.
In the words of Cheryl Burgess, “A brand is a reason to choose.”
Give consumers a reason to choose your brand. Let us know how we can help.
