The Importance of Branding

by Andrew Hanelly on June 7, 2011

Branding has come a long way from its cattle-marking origins.

What used to be a way for ranchers to label what belonged to them (in case it wandered away) now means so much more.

Brands are the reason caffeine fanatics pay more for coffee.

Brands are the reason hungry road-trippers get excited when they see the Golden Arches from the highway on a dark night.

Brands are the reason people with colds ask for a Kleenex instead of a tissue.

Brands are the reason the thirsty actually buy bottled water.

Brands, it turns out, yield a powerful influence over almost every aspect of consumer society.

The importance of branding stretches from the consumer’s heart to the cash register. 

I recently met with a group and discussed the ROI of branding. Here’s a copy of my presentation that I hope you find useful:

Branding ROI

What are you doing to build your brand?

Andrew Hanelly

Written by: Andrew Hanelly

Andrew is VP of Digital Experience at TMG and for one semester in college, was a sociology major. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.

  • http://yogizilla.wordpress.com Yomar

    Great thoughts on branding and the “power of presence”. Certainly, there’s a perceived value and credibility attached to major brands. I look at Apple and McDonald’s, for example, and I realize they sell junk but the convenience, pervasiveness, and stories drive their business. As such, you see their branding and immediately identify with them, for good or bad reasons.

    It’s pretty amazing how we can be aware of brands that we’re not even into. Certainly, branding will always be relevant, no matter how much the business world may change. I was lead here via Twitter and will definitely be checking back. 8)

    • http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly

      Thanks for dropping by Yomar. It goes to show that people don’t always buy on price or even on product features, a lot of times we buy on emotion alone. Great comment!

      • http://yogizilla.wordpress.com Yomar

        Thanks, Andrew!

        I’d also like to add that “value” and “quality” are seeing major changes. Gone are the days of price wars and one-upping competitors by making a slightly-better, more fully-featured product. Emotion is definitely a huge “buying trigger”, which is why a good story goes a long way.

        I like to look at quality and value as the sum of all experiences from beginning to end. I’ve found few companies truly stand by their products. Customer service lacks or they want to charge you to fix known issues, things that could have been circumvented with better planning.

        What are your experiences and thoughts there?

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