Building a brand involves the creation of a company identity that sticks in the minds of consumers. When managed effectively, a brand image provides many long term benefits for your company. A consistent brand image evokes customer memorability, familiarity, and loyalty towards a firm. Brand creation extends beyond the short lived effects of advertising campaigns and consistently attracts customers over an extended period of time. Although companies must invest money in the initial phases of brand creation, overall marketing expenses decrease overtime.
Establishing a brand image lowers marketing costs for several reasons. Branding establishes a connection between a stimulus and service, with consumers historically recognizing the repeated associations. Since effective branding requires repetition, companies should use the same symbols over and over to represent themselves. For example, your company can display the same logo in daily print ads, or broadcast the same jingle multiple times a day on the radio. When consumers see the logo or hear the jingle, they will immediately think of your company. This quick association allows you to promote your company without having to tell the whole story about the brand every time you market it.
Many businesses have found success through this method of branding, including Murray Raphel, owner of a T-Shirt store in Atlantic City. Raphel ran weekly ads with the same typeface in the local newspaper. Even when he removed the store name and address, customers still arrived at the store for the advertised items. Readers recognized the ad as associated to his shop because of the familiar location and typeface.
Branding truly speaks for your company in ways that words can not. The repetition involved in successful brand creation delivers the extra benefit of lower marketing costs. The successful creation of a brand quickly pays for itself by attracting and retaining a profitable base of customers.