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Frequently asked questions about corporate brands

What is a brand?

A brand is a story told in the market-place. It’s a story told to enhance people’s awareness of, understanding of, preference for and—ultimately—loyalty to a product or service and its seller. It is a story told through a variety of media. Like any good story, a good brand must be inherently interesting, different from other stories, internally consistent, meaningful to its audience, and told well.

What is the power of a brand?

In product brand-building, the classic definition of brand value begins with measuring how much more people are willing to pay for your product than for your competition’s. In building a corporate brand, this measure doesn’t always make sense. Beyond it, however, a brand has the power to do many things, including facilitate the introduction of new products, entry into new markets, expansion into new channels, expansion of existing channels, and much more.

As brand marketers, we support the creation of brand value by making brand communications more clear, consistent and compelling. We do so by focusing on brand fundamentals: enhancing people’s awareness, understanding, preference and, ultimately, loyalty as it relates to the brand. All of this can be tracked, measured and analyzed.

Inside a company, our work provides additional value. For marketers and other communicators, it can

expedite decision-making,
increase confidence,
enhance planning,
provide a framework for tracking and analysis, and
promote the cost-effective use of resources and assets.

In terms of a company’s employees more generally, developing and telling the brand story can help to inspire a sense of purpose, excitement and loyalty that can boost morale, support the retention of talent, attract new talent, strengthen customer relationships, and more. Ultimately, these benefits can contribute to better competitive andvantage and increased productivity.

How can you be confident in your brand’s fundamentals?

From a communicator’s standpoint, confidence in the brand comes from three sources: First, from the rigor that has gone into developing the brand story. Second, from the critical thinking used to evaluate the story and the communications that tell it. And third, from the ongoing process of tracking and analyzing results.

As brand marketers, Baker helps to build brand awareness, preference and loyalty by developing tools, assets and communications that are clear, consistent and compelling.

Rigor in story development comes from being sure you’ve addressed every consideration to arrive at an in-depth marketplace, competitive environment and products and services to be sold, as well as the company’s own business strategy and marketing capabilities.

Critical thinking in brand story evaluation comes from reviewing whether your positioning is ownable, defensible, credible and relevant; whether your personality is fresh and engaging; and whether your messages address your audiences’ priorities, as well as whether you can substantiate them.

The ongoing process of tracking and benchmarking helps you to understand what kinds of results you are achieving, and to adjust your strategy and planning accordingly.

Finally, of course, confidence comes from communicating to internal audiences that all of this has been competently addressed.

What does brand-building mean internally?

Internal brand-building means helping all members of an organization, not just its marketers and senior managers, to understand the purpose and value of the brand initiative, to believe in the brand story, and to participate in supporting the brand—telling the story—in the course of their everyday activities.

This effort is helped by:

linking the brand-building initiative to specific goals,
securing the endorsement and involvement of senior management,
soliciting insight and involvement from across the organization,
beginning communications regarding the initiative early—and maintaining them throughout the process,
creating a meaningful, inclusive event at launch, and
maintaining ongoing involvement at all levels through providing tools, identifying mentors, and acknowledging and monitoring support.

What is the relationship between “branding” and “positioning”?
Are they the same thing?

Positioning is one of three essential foundations to brand communications. Personality development and messaging are the other two.

Positioning is about defining a brand’s unique value.
Personality development is about defining a brand’s unique look and feel.
Messaging is about defining a brand’s specific appeal to different audiences.

OUR WORK ALIGNS WITH

Business Objectives
Audience Priorities
Communications Resources
Competitive Insights
Market Trends