IV Unit

What is Brand:

A brand is the identity and story of a company that makes it stand out from competitors that sell
similar products or services. The goal of branding is to earn space in the minds of the target
audience and become their preferred option for doing business. \Brands are an effective way for
companies to communicate their vision. A brand clarifies what a company stands for and why. A
brand also refers to the overall experience a person has when interacting with a business — as a
shopper, customer, social media follower, or mere passerby.

Branding is a process which involves creating a specific name, logo, and an image of a particular
product, service or company. This is done to attract customers. It is usually done through
advertising with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated
presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. A brand is a name, term, symbol, or
other feature that distinguishes an organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the
customer. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising.

Features of Branding

Targetability
Branding should be planned according to the targeted audience. No business firm can target the
entire population. Business owners should identify the type of people who are buying their products
and services. Research should be done on the basis of age, gender, income, the lifestyle of their
customers, etc.
Awareness
The percentage of people who are aware of a brand is known as brand awareness. Well established
companies have the benefit of a high level of brand awareness. Brand awareness can be increased
with the help of advertisement on TV, radio, newspaper or social media marketing and
advertising. Logos also help companies build brand awareness, as people often recognize brands by
these symbols or diagrams.
Loyalty
Brand loyalty is the highest achievement or apex of any company. A customer who buys the
product of a particular company extensively is known as a brand loyalist. Many consumers prefer
using certain brands of clothing, deodorants or tubes of toothpaste, for example. They like how
these brands benefit them. Brand loyalty can be build by staying in touch with the customers, asking
them for their reviews.
Consistency
Consistency is necessary for a brand. A brand must remain consistent. Small businesses make
numerous promises in commercials and ads about their brands, and consumers expect companies to
continue living up to these promises. Their products should also be effective

Types of Brands
The type of brand used depends on the entity using it. The following are some of the most
common forms of brands:
 Corporate Brands: Corporate branding is a way for companies to enhance their reputations
and distinguish themselves from competitors in their industries. The company's pricing,
mission, target market, and values all reflect the corporate brand.
 Personal Brands: Social media enabled ordinary people to become influencers. Their
financial success depends on their ability to create a brand that attracts an audience that certain
advertisers want to reach. Personal brands are built through social media posts, sharing images
and videos, and conducting meet-and-greets.
 Product Brands: Introducing a new product or supporting an existing product involves
creating and maintaining its brand. Branding a product starts with market research and
identifying the right target market

Importance of Brands

Your brand is arguably one of your organization’s most important assets. It gives your
organization an identity, makes your business memorable, encourages consumers to buy from
you, supports your marketing and advertising, and brings your employees pride.

1. Influencing purchasing decisions.

Branding can be the deciding factor for consumers when they make a purchase decision. In fact,
a 2021 Razorfish study found that 82% of surveyed consumers buy from brands that stand for a
greater mission or purpose. Around 67% say the brands they buy from make them a better
person.
2. Creates an identity for your business.
A brand extends beyond a company’s product or service. Branding gives your business an
identity. It gives consumers something to relate to and connect with beyond the product or
service they're actually purchasing.
3. Helps customers remember your business.
Branding makes your business memorable. It’s the face of your company and helps consumers
distinguish your business across every medium.
4. Boosts advertising and marketing.
Branding supports your marketing and advertising efforts. It helps your promotion pack that
extra punch with added recognition and impact.
5. Builds employee support.
Branding brings your employees pride. When you brand your company, you’re not only giving
your business identity, you’re also creating a reputable, highly-regarded workplace. Strong
branding brings in strong employees.
How to create Brands:
1. Establish your mission statement.
Let’s return to a question I asked in the last step: Why did you create your business? Answering
this will help you build your mission statement. This statement defines your purpose and passion
as an organization. Before you can craft a brand that your audience recognizes, values, and
trusts, you must be able to show what your business has to give. Then, every part of your brand
(logo, tagline, imagery, voice, and personality) can reflect that mission and vision. Your mission
statement is a building block of your brand manifesto. It encompasses why your organization
exists and why people should care about your brand.
2. Define your unique values, qualities, and benefits.
There are probably lots of businesses in your industry and niche. It’s easy to focus on your
competition (and there’s a time and place for competitive analysis), but, for now, let’s focus on
you. What’s one thing that your business has that no one else can mimic (er, legally)? Your
brand. Because of that, you must make sure that your brand is made from and inspired by
elements that are solely yours: the values, benefits, and qualities that make your company
unique. Take a moment to jot down a list of what sets your business apart from others. I’m not
talking about product features (like appearance, components, or capabilities). I’m referring to
how your products or services improve lives and contribute to success.
4. Create your visual assets.
At this point, you should understand your target audience, your mission statement, and the
unique qualities that make up your business. Can you say with confidence that you’ve finished
these steps? If your answer is yes, it’s time to move on to one of the more exciting parts of
branding — the visual design. We’re talking about your logo, color palette, typography (fonts),
iconography, and other visual components.
5. Find your brand voice.
Next, consider the voice of your brand. What would your brand sound like if you had a
conversation with it, or if it texted you? How you communicate with your target market is also
considered part of your branding. You want to define a brand voice that connects and resonates
with your audience — otherwise, they probably won’t pay attention. Because of that, don’t
hesitate to return to step one to get familiar with to whom you’re speaking. From
your advertising campaigns and Instagram captions to your blog posts and brand story, your tone
must be consistent.
6. Put your branding to work.
Your brand only works if you do. Once you finish designing and creating your new brand (or
rebrand) integrate it throughout every inch of your business. Pay extra attention to make sure that
it’s displayed anywhere your business touches customers. Here are a handful of tips for applying
your brand across your organization.

Brand Identity
What is brand identity exactly? Well, in simple terms you can think of it as the visual building
blocks of branding, and the design elements linked to your brand personality. It’s the logo, brand
colours, typeface, and other visual elements of a particular brand – the things that people might
look out for in a shopping mall, or amongst a list of products. Think about McDonald’s’ golden
arches; Coca-Cola’s swirling font and iconic red; Nike’s ‘Swoosh’; Google’s four distinctive
colours and Apple’s… well, Apple.

Brand identity corresponds to the intent and approach behind these elements. Brand image is the
actual results of these efforts- whether successful or not.

What is brand image? And how do you measure it?

These are some of the hallmarks of great brand identity building, alongside other, less noticeable
touches. For example, you might not pay attention to the particular fonts being used by Apple
and Google, but they are different and ironclad for each – as part of their efforts to build a
consistent brand identity.
Brand identity cornerstones:

 Logo
 Colours
 Font/typeface
 Shapes and iconography
 Tone of voice

Why is brand identity important:

There are a few key reasons that brand identity should be seen as a central focus of any
company’s brand activity, and they have a lot to do with customer preference and customer
loyalty. First and foremost, building a strong, consistent brand identity helps lend credence and
build a reputation. At its height, standalone elements of your brand identity – like your logo –
could be enough to convince someone to buy your product over any other. Just think about how
Gucci products command a higher value than non-brand clothing, as a simple example. Or how
Adidas’ three stripes on a pair of shoes might make you feel reassured that they’ll help you run
faster than a cheaper alternative.
That’s great if you’ve already achieved strong brand recognition, but what about when you’re
just starting out? In that instance, making the visual elements of your brand identity appealing
and memorable will help you stand out in a list of similar products. And if you can make your
brand identity reassuringly consistent, you’ll appear more professional than those whose identity
is harder to pin down. Furthermore, humans are often driven by emotion – and so are our
purchasing decisions. So if your brand identity is built on a bedrock of professional design that
appeals to people’s tastes, you’ll stand a better chance of getting them on board than a less
visually-striking competitor.

Characteristics of a strong brand identity

The tricky thing about brand identity is that – as with anything visual – there’s a lot of
subjectivity. One person might love a specific design while another hates it. With that being said,
though, there are a few core characteristics that every organisation should try and keep in mind
when it comes to developing brand identity design:
Unique brand identity
Strong brand identity is really about standing apart from the crowd, and being instantly
recognisable is the goal. If any of the various visual elements of your brand can be easily
confused for another organisation, you’re in trouble. Being unique helps people remember you,
and that often comes from a visually striking treatment that can’t be mistaken for anyone else.
Uniform brand identity
If your logo, colours, and fonts all look like they don’t belong together on the same page, you
have a problem with cohesion. Your finished brand style guide should ideally boast
complimentary colours, shapes, and typesets so that however you apply your brand’s visual
elements, things have a sense of uniformity and togetherness.
Appropriate brand identity
As well as looking like they belong together, strong brand identity design needs to be appropriate
for the industry you operate in. If you’re in a corporate environment, squiggly handwriting will
probably make you look unprofessional. Conversely, if your organisation works with children,
you probably don’t want your brand assets to be too stuffy.
Adaptable brand identity
The different elements of your brand identity design need to be easy to apply in a multitude of
settings. Designers should feel confident in using your visuals online, in print, and out-of-home,
while your company colours should be flexible – allow for colour inversion, and use in various
combinations
Accessible brand identity
It’s always worth giving thought to those with disabilities when designing your brand essence.
Will colourblind people be able to make out your logo? Does your brand’s typeface cause
problems for those with dyslexia?

Elements of brand identity design

Your brand identity will be present on everything from product packaging to email signatures,
but the key building blocks of it from a design point of view are as follows:
Logo
Your company name, and/or a symbol in its place. Think: Nike as it’s written out, and the
‘Swoosh’.
Colours
The palette that appears in and around your logo, on your website, across your packaging, etc. A
great example of this is IKEA’s iconic blue and yellow.
Typography
The fonts you use and how you use them – including guidelines for things like white space
around your logo, and how different fonts work together.

Building Brand Identity

The steps a company should take to build a strong, cohesive, and consistent brand identity will
vary, but a few points apply broadly to most:

1. Analyze the company and the market. A complete SWOT analysis that includes the
entire firm—a look at the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—is a
proven way to help managers understand their situation to determine better their goals and the
steps required to achieve them.
2. Determine key business goals. The brand identity should help fulfill these goals. For
example, if an automaker is pursuing a niche luxury market, its ads should be crafted to appeal
to that market. They should appear on channels and sites where potential customers are likely
to see them.
3. Identify its customers. Conducting surveys, convening focus groups, and holding one-
on-one interviews can help a company identify its consumer group.
4. Determine the personality and message it wants to communicate. A company needs
to create a consistent perception rather than trying to combine every conceivable positive trait:
utility, affordability, quality, nostalgia, modernity, luxury, flash, taste, and class. All brand
 elements, including copy, imagery, cultural allusions, and color schemes, should align and
deliver a coherent message.

Brand Image
Brand image is the current view of the customers about a brand. It can be defined as a unique
bundle of associations within the minds of target customers. It signifies what the brand presently
stands for. It is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand. In short, it is nothing but the
consumers’ perception about the product. It is the manner in which a specific brand is positioned
in the market. Brand image conveys emotional value and not just a mental image. Brand image is
nothing but an organization’s character. It is an accumulation of contact and observation by
people external to an organization. It should highlight an organization’s mission and vision to all.
The main elements of positive brand image are- unique logo reflecting organization’s image,
slogan describing organization’s business in brief and brand identifier supporting the key values.

Why a positive brand image is important

Today, many consumers (especially millennials and Generation Z) don’t buy your product or
service simply because you have the best option, but because of what you stand for. In fact,
a Harvard Business Review study found that 64% of consumers say that shared values is the
primary reason they have a relationship with a brand. That was, by and large, the biggest driver,
and only 13% cited frequent interactions as the primary reason for a relationship. That means
that, while you must interact with your customers, the quality of your interactions matters more
than the quantity for brand perception.
This is particularly true in the post-pandemic world: 61% of people said that how a brand
responded to the crisis would have a large impact on whether they’d keep their relationships with
them afterwards. It’s not just how businesses care for others, either – it’s about how they care
directly for customers. We found in our Global Consumer Trends Report 2022 that more than
60% of consumers feel that businesses need to care more about them and that they’d actually buy
more if they felt that care. What’s your level of brand awareness in your target market? Find out
with our free brand awareness survey template.

How to build a strong brand image

To build a strong brand image, you’ll need to start with understanding who your brand is and
what it stands for. This foundational work helps you to position yourself in the market and win
the hearts of your target customers. New customers and existing customers alike can benefit
from brand image-based social media programs, marketing, and creating a pitch to individual
consumers’ interests on a large scale.
Determine your mission, vision, and values
It’s important to start with defining your mission, vision, and values because everything your
company does (and every experience you deliver) should line up with your mission and values.
Inconsistency in values will hurt your brand image, so you must define your purpose before
promoting your brand. In addition, not only will your values attract customers but it will
drive employee engagement as well. Mission-driven employees stay at a company longer and are
more likely to be higher performers. Understanding your mission, vision, and values (and
practicing what you preach) can go a long way in retaining happy, productive employees and
customers.
Create a brand positioning statement
A brand positioning statement can set you apart from the competition and tells consumers
exactly how you solve a need for your target audience. To create this, research your competitors
and understand what makes your brand unique. Perhaps you have a strength in an area that one
of your competitors is weak in. Once you understand what makes you different, create a one to
two sentence statement that communicates your unique value to your customers. This will help
inform your brand image.
Create a brand personality/brand identity
Just like a person, each brand needs a crafted personality, voice, and characteristics. Start by
choosing the tone and write at least 10 attributes of your brand. You can also make a list of
things your brand is and is not. Defining a brand personality and brand identity will bring
consistency to your marketing and brand image.
Identify your key audiences using persona market research
If you don’t know who your potential customers are, you can’t craft a marketing message
specifically for them. First, you must research you audience and
gather demographic and psychographic data on them. Then, you segment them to create three to
five fictional representations of your target customers. Understanding your buyer personas and
audiences is key to portraying the right image for your brand.

Examples Of Brand Image

 Coca-Cola is a brand known for a product best used at the time of happiness, joy, and
good experience. It is the ‘original cola’ and has a ‘unique taste’.
 Woodland Shoes are solid and are an ideal choice for outdoors. They last very long.
 McDonald’s has an image of an inexpensive brand that serves the food very quickly.

Brand Protecting
Don’t you find it frustrating to create the perfect brand for your company just to find out that
somebody bested you in patenting your idea? Or by the fact that another business entity is
abusing your brand names to sell counterfeit products? If you answered yes, then it’s time for
you to apply for a brand protection at your nearest trademark office and legal counsel. After all,
your company branding is your intellectual property.
Why is Brand Protection Important to Your Business?
You may be one of the many business owners or start-ups who got into online businesses
through social media accounts. It’s easy to start an online business and gain a following with the
right marketing strategy these days, but at the same time, malicious third parties can also easily
to steal, impersonate, and ruin your identity. How can you protect your business from being
infringed, stolen, or used inadvertently? This is where brand protection comes in. Brand
protection allows you to legally protect and ensure exclusive rights to your brand’s security,
longevity, and authority in the long run despite being online. Some of the reasons why you
should apply for a brand protection include:
Link Manipulation – With more and more people gaining access to the Internet, link
manipulation is the mainstream for exploitation efforts. Hackers can alter your website link by
creating a misspelled URL to hijack your customers, redirecting them to a spoofed website (a
website that looks exactly like yours).
Website Spoofing – Once your unsuspecting customers are redirected to their spoofed website,
bad actors and hackers will then trick them into downloading malware or spyware that gives
away their personal information.
Email Spoofing – In some cases, attackers may try email spoofing attacks where they send fake
emails that looks like a legitimate brand. Once your customer clicks them, they allow their
attacker to glimpse on their personal data, which may lead to impersonation and hacking.
Phishing – If you think attackers stop on emails and website spoofing, then you’re wrong. As a
matter of fact, phishing is quite common regardless of what country you belong. For years,
attackers have been exploiting unsuspecting customers by sending them links with spoofed login
pages or by asking them to transfer money through voice messages.
Social Media Impersonation – Social media is a popular platform to share information,
communicate and advertise, making it the best place for brand exploitation. How? By
impersonating someone into promoting counterfeit goods, posting positive reviews on fake
brands, or commenting fake news which may tarnish their reputation.
Impacts of Brand Infringements and Fake Products
Although the issues caused by your attackers won’t directly affect your company name. Its
impact will cost you more than you can imagine if they are not prevented or addressed in the
long run. Some of these impacts include:
Reduce in Sales – Majority of the people around the world can’t resist a bargain. In most cases
buyers will prefer quantity over quality so long as they think they are saving more. And, seeing
that fake products are cheaper compared to the original ones, people will be drawn to these kinds
of goods. As a result, you lose not only your profit but also your customer’s loyalty in the long
run.
Decrease in Customer Trust and Reputation – Some people, especially those who are
particular with their purchases, may distrust your brand as soon as they find out that you are
linked to any accidents, scandals, and frauds. When that happens, gaining back their trust will be
hard. Not to mention, fighting back against infringers is costly, using up a significant amount of
your time and resources.
Brand Dilution – When your brand acquires a bad reputation online, the search engine flags
your keywords, which results to brand dilution. This is done by making your keyword more
generic, displaying unrelated advertisements to your post, which dilutes them later on.
Jeopardized Business Partnerships – Finally, when counterfeit items comes in, you don’t only
lose the loyalty of your customers, but also your relationship with your business partners. By
selling fake goods, your business partners and suppliers may perceive you as a disloyal member.
Ways to Protect Your Brand Name
Now that you have a good grasp of what branding is and why brand protection is important, it’s
time for you learn how to protect your brand name through this ultimate guide. Here are five
easy ways:
1. Register your Domain Name
Domain names are important in building your business brand protection. As soon as you come
up with a business name, register it even if you don’t plan to build a website right away.
According to GrowthBadger, .com domains are over 33% more memorable and trusted than
URLs with other top-level domains (TLD). At the same time be sure to register your domain
name with alternate extensions (e.g., .net, .biz, and .org), with their alternative spellings (e.g.,
saintjames.com, stjames.org, and stj.net). Having domains with multiple spelling alternatives is
ideal for your visitors because you’re giving them better chances of accessing your website in
case they make a mistake in entering your domain name.
2. Trademark your Business Name and Logo
While you’re not required to trademark your name and logo, doing so gives added protection in
case someone uses a name or logo that’s the same or confusingly similar. Start by searching
the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database to see if anyone has already trademarked a
similar business name and/or logo. You can also apply for a trademark online. But, since this
process is complex, consulting an attorney familiar with trademark law can help file documents
necessary to registering and maintaining your brand.
3. Use your Brand
The more you use your brand name, logo, and other identifying elements, the more proof you
will have that they belong to you. For example, an eCommerce business can put its logo on
shipping boxes, tissue paper, and packing slips. A retailer can have sales clerks wear t shirts with
the store’s logo on them to make them more visible to their clients. For social medias, you may
use your brand to help establish your presence online. You can use the ™ symbol with your
name and logo before you apply for a trademark; after your official registration, you can use the
symbol ® for your brand name.

4. Monitor your Brand

Set up Google alerts on your brand name and use social media management tools such
as SocialMention to see when your brand name is mentioned. This will alert you when someone
else is illegally using your brand name so you can take action quickly. The faster you can act, the
better your chances of stopping the infringement before it damages your brand. Web.com offers
a Business Directories with Reviews Management service makes sure your company’s listing is
correct in all online directories while also allowing you to see and respond to reviews, social
posts, and comments from all the connected accounts.
5. Deal with Infringement Immediately
Finally, when you encounter any brand infringement, start by sending a cease-and-desist letter to
the person or company using your brand name or logo illegally. Feel free to explain your
ownership on your trademark, including your decision to take legal actions if the issue is not
remedied on time.
 Brand levels
What Is Brand Hierarchy
A brand hierarchy is the systematic branching structure of a brand’s distinctive elements for its
sub-products. When companies begin to diversify their products, with new products and different
positioning schemes, they graph a brand hierarchy to help with the identification of their
products and services. A brand hierarchy helps inculcate the vital brand elements and
modifications within the products. For example, think of Amazon. Amazon provides e-books
services, e-shopping services, AI products, etc. But people do not refer to Amazon for all this at
once. They refer to Amazon Kindle or Amazon Prime or other hierarchies that Amazon has
developed. These hierarchies contain distinctive elements through their name, logo, and brand
identity that helps differentiate between the products as well as reduces confusion for customers.
Corporate Brand
The highest level of the brand hierarchy is the corporate brand. This is the main
company/corporate brand. For instance, we commonly refer to Mercedes cars as part of the brand
Mercedes. But the corporate brand of Mercedes is actually Daimler AG. Daimler is the over-
arching corporate brand to other family brands under it.
Family Brand
The next lower level in the hierarchy is the family brand. It is also known as the ‘range brand’ or
the ‘umbrella brand’. It is called the ‘family’ brand because it may have a range of products
under it, but it is not the corporate brand. For instance, Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans, and
Daimler Trucks and Buses are the family brands to Daimler AG. Then under Mercedes-Benz
Cars, they have various classes and cars. Many times firms may not have a corporate brand over
them. In such a case the corporate brand level and family brand level collapse as one. A very
famous example of this is Apple Inc. It is the corporate brand and family brand for itself since:
 It has no corporate brand
 It has a range of products under it

Individual Brand
Individual brands are linked only to a single product category. This doesn’t mean it has only one
product. It can have multiple product versions, models, colours, etc. For instance, the Mercedes
family brand has individual brands like the SL class and GLC class. So SL class is one individual
brand below the family brand – Mercedes.
Importance Of Brand Hierarchy
Marketers create brand hierarchies for numerous reasons. Brand hierarchies are important
because as products become more different it becomes difficult for brands to retain their product
meaning for consumers and employees. Therefore, through a brand hierarchy brands can evoke
specific associations across numerous products. The following are reasons why brand hierarchies
have become increasingly important today:
Prevents Customer Confusion
When customers are offered too many choices under one brand name it creates confusion.
Confused customers will never understand your offering and therefore may not buy your
products at all. Through a brand hierarchy, consumers can understand what brand sells exactly
what products. It simplifies the choices that consumers need to make.
Helps Future Business Planning
Successful branding is affected by numerous factors, but a planned out hierarchy if one of the
important elements. If a proper structure is not in place, it gets hard to allocate resources and
budgets. With a brand hierarchy, every new brand can build its own elements, associations, and
style guide. Brand hierarchies also help plan what marketing materials and financial resources
would each brand need.
Attracts Focused Attention
When your brands are segregated through a hierarchy you can build a specific brand strategy for
each product. This way you prevent brands from competing with each other. Each brand will
have its own story to tell and it’s own target audience to market to. This difference will serve as a
guiding focus for the purchasing decisions of your target audience.
Provides A Clear Overview
Brand hierarchy is important because it helps understand a brand’s architecture from a bird’s eye
view. If you have multiple products under one corporate brand with no division, your brand
structure will look too unorganised and muddled. Therefore, a brand hierarchy helps in having all
your specilised brands and products at one glance.

How to Create A Brand Hierarchy

Brand hierarchy strategies are created when you begin to engage with multiple product lines. In
such a situation it becomes stressful for a business to manage the diverse range of products, and
it becomes confusing for customers. Brands also tend to take heavily passionate decisions and
release distinctive ranges of products but execute the management poorly. Have a look at Sony
for example. Sony has not been able to ace the tech industry despite its exceptional quality. This
is largely because it uses the same corporate brand for all it’s products whether mobiles,
cameras, digital books, toys, and even its music label. Luckily, creating a blueprint for your
brand hierarchy is not as hard as it may seem. Here are 3 simple steps to help you build your
brand hierarchy:
Identify Your Product Groups
Begin with identifying what are the products or services that your brand is offering. Ask yourself
the question – Can these products be separated and segregated into categories? The first step is
all about analysing your current brand structure. To do so, you can analyse what your employees
and consumers find confusing about your product range. When your brand’s name comes up are
they too confused about what you sell? Based on this analysis divide all individual products into
broader categories. For example, if you are Procter and Gamble. Your product lines are –
detergent, grooming products, baby care products, etc. These are far too diverse and so you must
create a brand hierarchy.
Determine Your Levels
Now that you know about your product categories, you need to determine how many levels do
you want to divide the products on. To determine your levels, make sue of two principles:
Principle of Simplicity
Do not complicate your hierarchy with multiple divisions and sub-divisions. Keep it simple. If
you need 2 levels, stick to 2. If you need 4 levels, stick to 4. For instance, Starbucks sells a wide
range of products like – Coffee, Tea, Mineral Water, and Kitchen merchandise. Their products
are different, but not majorly different. Therefore, they decided to stick to two levels. The
corporate brand and the family and individual brands were combined with the products. Though
a few descriptors like freshly brewed, cold brewed, etc. do exist to avoid confusion of customers.
Principle of Clarity
Make sure your hierarchy is clear. The purpose of a brand hierarchy is to minimise confusion,
not create more. Let’s say your product mix constitutes mobiles, buildings, and insurance
policies, like Samsung you definitely require a brand hierarchy. But if it is not very diverse, and
closely related then you must have a minimum number of fo levels clear for your consumers to
understand.
Creating The Brand For Each Level
Your brand hierarchy is coming alive. You have separate brand categories ready to be launched.
But before you complete this, you need to plan your branding strategies for the brand at each
level.
Brand Elements
Create associations for your brand through brand elements. This step may be a lengthy and time-
consuming step. But by creating a brand hierarchy you have given birth to smaller brands and
product models under a larger corporate brand. As any new brand would require you to create
the brand elements from scratch so do these new baby brands.
Principle of Commonality
While moulding your new individual brands find a common aspect for your customers to cling
onto. For instance, Apple uses the alphabet ‘I’ with its products, McDonalds uses ‘Mc’ with all
its dishes. Such common aspects intrigue the interest of customers and help them create
associations with your products.
Marketing Strategies
A big part of creating your brand is determining the marketing channels for your brand. Will
a referral marketing strategy suit your product or an influencer marketing strategy? While
determining your marketing plan you will also have to make note of :
 What are your marketing goals?
 Who is your target audience?
 What are the metrics that you want to track?
 What is your budget?

Brand Evaluation
Brand evaluation is unquestionably essential for giant firms that can afford to spend money
investigating their brand, but it may also assist small enterprises. A brand evaluation provides an
objective view of your brand’s worth. It may also help you spot possible issues with your brand
measurement.Today’s great global businesses demonstrate that brand power can encourage growth
by exploiting their reputation and consumer loyalty. Such brands include Apple, Coca-Cola, Nestle,
and Goodyear. Many consumers pay for the brand when they order a “Coke” and would gladly spend
twice as much on luxury items from companies like Apple.
What is brand Evaluation
Brand evaluation measures a brand’s worth using pertinent metrics that determine how the brand
affects users and consumers. The brand assessment considers financial (such as brand value) and
non-financial factors (i.e., brand strength and brand equity). Brand valuation and brand
evaluation are linked ideas that complement one another. Brand value is more limited and solely
takes financial factors into account. Brand evaluation is the process of determining a brand’s
value using pertinent metrics that gauge the brand’s influence on users and consumers. It
incorporates both monetary and non-monetary factors. This is described from the viewpoint of
the stakeholder.
We should lay out our guiding concepts before diving into the details of our brand evaluation.
Insights from fit-for-purpose brand evaluations include:

 Information on how to increase company performance.

 A timely manner upon delivery.
 They are created with a target audience who will use the content.

Ways to evaluate the brand.

Brand evaluation is not an art and a science. Some components of excellent practice are
universal, and broad measuring concepts may be used in almost any circumstance. No one
strategy works for all situations, which may be difficult for firms that lack the internal resources
and experience needed to establish and maintain assessment programs. But because each brand
and company is unique, brand owners should try to apply this comprehensive assessment
framework to suit their requirements. Here is how we advise approaching your evaluation:
Determine your metrics.
Several quantitative measures may be used to assess whether or not your brand is doing well.
Typically, we focus on the most basic of factors:
 Brand awareness: How well-known you are and what you do to the public
 Brand Sentiment: The feelings consumers associate with your brand
 Brand equity: The value you get (or lose) as a result of consumer connections with your
brand
Figure out how you’ll quantify each statistic. You can be confident that quantitative metrics
alone won’t reveal the complete story of your brand’s success; instead, you’ll supplement them
with qualitative information. Brand awareness may be measured with a yes/no question, and
brand sentiment can be measured using a tool like Net Promoter Score.
Consult your team.
Your team likely has strong feelings about your brand. Interviewing executives and members of
your marketing team who are brand stakeholders for your organization one-on-one is an
excellent place to start your research.
Market Evaluation
When we engage with a client on a rebrand, we always speak to the individuals who must
represent the brand daily—think customer service representatives and salespeople. These
individuals will be informed of discrepancies between how your company portrays itself and
how it functions.
These interviews offer the advantage of obtaining staff buy-in, which is crucial since if you
decide to rebrand later, you’ll want everyone on board from the start. They also help you
understand what your brand means to your employees.
Survey the audience.
The main objectives are to discover what your current customers see in your brand—what they
value, their emotional connections with it, and how your target audience—consumers you’d want
to convert—perceives your brand. Multiple approaches may be used to reach this goal.
When conducting focus groups for your brand, be sure to ask the same questions to each group,
then sit back and watch as they analyze and debate your brand. A few surprises are inevitable,
and focus groups often raise new issues you hadn’t thought about.
Conduct a thorough survey to create a dataset large enough for analysis. You should base your
survey questions on the information you get from the focus groups. Consider posing inquiries
like these:
 Do you recognize this brand?
 If so, how do you see this company’s image?
 If not, what do you believe this firm does, if not?
 What emotions does this logo evoke in you?
 What can you infer about the character of this firm from the appearance and feel of this
advertisement?
Simple name recognition surveys may be conducted using services. The results will show what
proportion of your target market is aware of your brand. This is a fantastic place to start if you
know that you don’t currently have a lot of brand recognition. If so, it’s time to establish a
benchmark, a goal, and a plan of action for achieving it.
Locate Your Delta
Speaking of benchmarks, you can now combine and evaluate all the data you’ve gathered about
your brand to determine its present condition. Next, calculate the delta: how far you are from
your target. Consider doing an internal brand workshop to obtain clarity and alignment on your
ultimate goal if you don’t already have a strong concept of where you’d want your brand to go.
The moment to act is right now. Establish quantifiable objectives with timeframes. You could
determine that a complete rebrand is necessary. You might find that your brand is strong but
want to build more brand equity or strive for a more uplifting brand attitude. While your brand
may already be seen favorably, it may not exactly evoke the feeling you were hoping for.
The likelihood that you’ll need to rebrand entirely is slim. This activity aims to identify what is
working and eliminate what is not. Therefore, the more probable result is that you’ll want to do
some little brand refreshes.