What is Corporate Branding?
This is a form of marketing for a company in the form of a name, log or picture. This corporate branding then merges with the company’s products and services and becomes an overview for the entire brand. Clients will judge your business on the basis of your branding so make sure it delivers a positive image.
Making use of smart branding techniques lands companies at great heights and many successful brands have reached such soaring positions through their strategic corporate branding. For any business or small-scale startup be it a multinational car company or a local chain of handmade baskets, branding is essential for marketing. The same is with different logos that companies can use to make their unique mark in the business world.
Corporate branding is most repute-focused of its type that makes a public name and profile for the entire business. The customers organize the company’s name with a promise of credibility and trustworthiness. The corporation remains firm on their promise and delivers the same positive performance it has had a record of. If the corporate branding is good enough, companies can rely on name brand-recognition. So customers will extend their trust to the services and products of that organization they haven’t even tried because they recognize the brand as being a sincere and honest one.
Types of Corporate Branding
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Fighter branding
This lures customers away from rival competitors who are trying to under-price your company and attracts them towards the new offerings that your business has introduced. Under this the consumer may remain with the brand even when economic conditions change. However, a disadvantage can also be that the customer completely downsizes from the luxury item to the discounted one. Unlike the traditional branding which targets specific customers, fighter brands focus on a competitor who is threatening to take away the market share from the company’s main brand.
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Umbrella branding
Some companies like Sony and Apple use the same name for all their products. A strong brand name used for selling a variety of products is significant and encourages the customer’s goodwill. The umbrella branding focuses on driving the price of an item lower to beat competition. So this will only start a war considering the prices of products that are already on sale in the market, lending an economic approach to corporate branding. The companies which use this have a positive brand image and are confident with using the same means of identification for all of their products. So no additional brand names or symbols are required.
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Premium branding
A company which caters to niche customers makes itself appear as a premium brand. For instance various car brands like Porsche are included in this and watches by Tag Heuer. Here the company will position itself and market itself to attract a certain type of customers.The true theme of this type of marketing is evident through the quality of the product or service. So it is essential that a corporation uses premium branding effectively to reach the appropriate demographic.
In this type of branding consumers are ready to make trade-offs to experience the brand. Sometimes these tradeoffs are natural and other times they are intentional or conscious. The premium brand can be spotted by its premium price point (or score) as well as how many sales are made to consumers who have decided that the higher price is worth the tradeoff of buying the brand’s product. A “means score” measures consumer ability to engage with a premium price point, while a “mindset score” measures the consumer’s attitude to actually make the purchase.
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Associating with community branding
In this type of branding the company takes into consideration their community and the vicinity in which it is located or where its employees reside. For the benefit of the community schools, hospitals or banks etc may be opened as a service to the people. Moreover, it may even favor the youth by providing them employment through reserving a certain percentage of jobs for the people of that community. Therefore, through this community branding the company creates its repute of being helpful and valuable to the people that reside there. Some of the functions for associations that such organizations deliver are membership management, learning management, job boards, event management, payment and much more. For non-profits they allow fund-accounting, fundraising, mobile auctions, donor management, membership and events. Lastly for schools they offer admissions, enrollment, tuition, financial aid, student information management and communication.
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Feel good branding
Such brands offer customers something that they are proud of encouraging customer loyalty. Some will have strong environmental credentials, others inspire a healthy lifestyle. And many will donate to charitable projects or run charity projects themselves. These brands have necessarily not started from multi-million-pound campaigns but are from humble origins which is why through the aid of this branding they create an emotional connection with their clients.
These companies sell their products by creating an image of getting a good feeling by using these products. For instance a coffee brand may market well by claiming that starting your day with a cup of coffee may uplift the customers’ mood. This is the same case with cars, clothing brands and cold drinks inculcating a positive feel good branding where they make sure to convey it to the users that such products will revive their spirits as a whole.
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Associating with various causes branding
Many companies curate an image of themselves that connects them to many charitable donations or social services. This will create a very likable image of the brand as serving the community and so many other organizations will prefer working with your brand. Many companies even contribute a certain percentage of their sales to social causes. Since the world is becoming more socially conscious, companies are in dire need to take stances on social and environmental issues. The difference between cause branding and cause marketing is that the former focuses on long term associations as opposed to short term with the latter.
