Introduction
View the warning on the contents page regarding "facts" presented by this author.
The Wall Street Journal is quoted in reporting "Branding is one of the hottest trends in business and one of the most misunderstood." The author is inclined to agree.
Most people in business have heard of it, and have some vague notion of what it means, but branding remains a vague subject, that is discussed in obtuse academic terms that offer little assistance, or given passing mention in the context of a tactic that may have nothing at all to do with branding.
Dissatisfied with existing literature on the topic, the author undertook to write his own that is written to the specific interests of small to medium-sized organizations, and provides a general overview of the concept as well as practical advice for tending their brands.
The author claims 30 years experience in brand marketing with large organizations, one-person start-ups, and even the nonprofit sector - all of whom need a blueprint for a successful brand.
There is some caution that the book begins in the realm of theory, but that it's necessary to understand some basic concepts because brand exists in the human mind, and that the behavior related to brand is itself theoretical. Without a sound basis, a person might not understand what a brand is or how it functions, and will readily accept the advice of others who also have no understanding of the core concepts.
The importance of brand is increasing with the competitiveness of the marketplace. There are any number of suppliers for any given good or need, and unless you have a brand, then all you have a commodity - and a commodity does not command customer loyalty.
And especially for the small to medium-sized company, you cannot compete on price with the major players - but if you build a strong brand, you need not be concerned about competing on price: it's been conclusively demonstrated that customers will pay a higher price for a preferred brand, even where cheaper alternatives are available.
In contemporary society, traditional marketing techniques are no longer sufficient to succeed. Advertising has lost its credibility, direct-mail pieces go straight from mailbox to trash bin. Telemarketing has been functionally banned and personal selling is unappealing. The traditional measures of reach and frequency do not create the same impact they once did, and are not sufficient to dissuade a customer to stray from a brand to which they are loyal.
That's not to say that traditional methods of customer communication are utterly ineffective - but if they are not part of an overall brand approach, they are far less effective in reaching customers.
Also, branding is not the sole province of major corporations with astronomical budgets and sizable staff devoted solely to managing the company's portfolio of brands: these are useful resources, but they are largely just methods of measurement, and the tactics that such companies use to build a brand can be leveraged by the smallest of firms.
The size of an operation is significant in its reach, but is no advantage in dealing with each customer: the customer who walks into a retail operation owned by a single individual is just as immersed in its brand as if he had walked into a shop that is part of a global chain; a customer who calls a one-man business has the same conversation as he would if his call were received by a massive corporation.
That is to say that a small business can be just as effective that a firm of considerably greater size, if not more effective, in creating a brand in the mind of each customer it serves.