Please explain what is branding in the marketing context.
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Branding is the part of marketing that tries to plant an idea in your head about what a product or company stands for. Or, more accurately, what the marketing/branding department wants you to think their product stands for.
For example…BMW. Presumably you’re thinking highly-engineered, German, possibly “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, sports car, “expensive but worth it”, “more reliable than a Ferrari”, etc. That’s not a coincidence, that’s BMW’s brand, they consciously worked to try and make you think that and associate that with all their vehicles.
McDonalds: cheap, ubiquitous, tastes absolutely the same no matter where you go on earth. Note that these aren’t things McDonalds necessarily says outright but they’re things they want you to think. Branding is not the same as logos/mottos/slogans (although one supports the other).
A good brand has value. Great example is the Pontiac Vibe vs. the Toyota Matrix. They’re the same car. I don’t mean figuratively, I mean it’s literally the same parts put together on the same assembly line by the same mechanics, the only difference is whether they whack the Pontiac or Toyota badge on it. When new, a Matrix sold for about $3000 more than the Vibe with the same options…that is the value of the Toyota brand (relative to Pontiac, anyway).
Notorious example…Harley-Davidson. If their marketing department is doing their job, you’re picturing a big dude in black leathers with a beard who looks like he can win a bar fight, may have a wife half his age, and does whatever he wants whenever he wants. These are NOT Harley-Davidson’s main customers. Their main customers are middle/late-aged upper middle class folks who want to *believe* they have the freedom of that iconic biker image. The marketing department very carefully curates that brand to plant a specific image in their customer’s minds of what their product stands for and, by extension, what you stand for if you buy their product.
It’s using a name, colors, logos, product design, typography to help position the product in the eyes of consumers.
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