Functions and main elements of a brand
Of course, any company wants to increase its sales and profits, so for them the approach to brand activity is purely pragmatic. Companies invest large amounts of resources and specialist time to ensure that the brand allows them to achieve the following objectives:
Allow consumers to recognize products and services, to identify them in the great set of offers that exist in the market.
To differentiate your brand from that of your competitors, which in marketing parlance is called differentiation.
Influencing consumer behavior through brand communication and emphasizing the factors and trends that are important to the target audience.
But it's also interesting to look at the fundamentals of the brand through the eyes of consumers. What functions does the brand fulfill in the customer's frame of reference?
What value does the brand bring to consumers?
Let's go back to the branding tasks listed above. You will have noticed that several of them are of the nature associated with explaining to the target audience what the brand is.
In fact, companies, when promoting their brand offerings, try to tell and show their attributes, including emotional ones, so that consumers better understand what they are acquiring. In this way, the brand of products and services has the function of a navigation map, which establishes the reference points towards which consumers prefer to move.
The nature of the human brain is to work in favor of brands, which tends to save energy and effort when thinking about the matter at hand. He prefers to make decisions once to automate them in similar situations. That's why people don't do a deep comparative analysis of the offers every time they stand in front of a product shelf.
Once a decision on preferred brands has been made, action is taken on autopilot, unless of course new variables intervene to change the factors.
As we have previously stated, the company's main objective is to make it easier for consumers to choose and model what is best for them and fits their lifestyle. But it's not just that; Marketing efforts are also focused on adding value to brands, which in a highly competitive market are increasingly moving into the realm of the human emotional experience.
In summary, it is possible to formulate the following types of functions that brands perform in the eyes of consumers:
Identification of the desired product for purchase by brand attributes.
Saving time and reducing energy costs on repeat purchases.
Confirmation of the correct choice through promises and brand guarantees.
Increase the emotional experience and aesthetic pleasure during and after the purchase, since consumers are not limited to buying a product without a name, but a brand that has a meaning and a unique design.
An additional way for consumers to express themselves and underline their individuality.
An opportunity to demonstrate their superiority and/or receive positive feedback from those around them, for whom the brand is also recognizable.
A sense of predictability, control, confidence and stability.
Key elements of a brand
It's no easy task steering consumer choice in the right direction, so it's no surprise that brand building and development isn't easy. The basic elements of the brand are as follows.
brand DNA
The essence of the brand that defines its development. It is expressed in a key characteristic that is immutable and that allows the brand to be uniquely identified and that constitutes the limits of its existence.
brand platform
The set of basic parameters that form the core promise of a brand. It includes the legend, the mission, the description of the image expressed in personality traits.
positioning
The main difference between a brand and its competitors in the market, which is established in all marketing communications to fix it in the minds of consumers. It involves the description of the target audience, the benefits of the brand and the differentiation parameters.
display
A creative brand concept that includes:
Legally protected brand name and brand image
Graphic image and spelling (including logo, corporate colors, fonts, etc.)
Slogan (corporate motto)
Location and design of points of sale
Staff corporate image
Customer service processes
Other tangible parameters
Communication channels
Channels used in marketing communications to convey the brand's key messages to the target audience.
influencing factors
Business messages never reach the target audience with 100% accuracy. Information is often distorted in the communication process.
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