What is Branding?

I had an opportunity to talk with Soela Joshi A business director at Big FM, ‘Talking chances’ podcaster, and a very amazing content planner.

She talked about Branding & content in branding.

• When she talked about brands she said behind every brand 1) there is history 2) commitment & 3) Efforts.

There are four important things you should understand about brands:

• When it comes to brand Psychology & science play a vital role.
• Product has a life cycle, not a brand.
• The brand is a promise we have to keep.
• Brands are value-driven.
• She said websites, social media are important elements but they are just the tip of an iceberg. Yes, it has to be attractive, with simple & attractive content with visuals but the brand is more than that.
• She said there are few brand fundamentals.

1. The brand is our only real, immutable competitive advantage.

You need to have relevant differentiation in your product. To explain it more thoroughly she gave an example of Tesla.

2. The brand is your connection to customers.

She said that people may forget what you do, they never forget how you made them feel. Have a personalized bond with each customer/client. Sometimes the purpose of marketing is to give emotional & spiritual promise. Give them a feel beyond the brand. Intentions, attitude makes them feel good. Understand people on an emotional level.

To give a more clear perspective to this fundamental, she gave an example of Apple. Apple never pitches price, they pitch connection, people’s behavior (imaginable, innovative, improvisation).

3. The brand is our “true north” for all decision-making.

Understand your destination/ goal, What you want to know by. For that she gave the example of Volvo, Volvo means safety. People come and go but the message you knew for, the belief you show stays.

4. The Brand is our insurance policy in tough times.

If you know any brand, their product in different situations you go & buy that product particularly. Because you are familiar with the product, it has a strong recall in your mind. Even in the pandemic situation, people asked for a brand they are familiar with, a brand they trust.

You need to nurture a brand as a child.

Nostalgia also goes well for brands.

To give more clear understanding she gave an example of Maggie. Maggie was banned for six months., but came back strongly. Came back & Reached into their leadership even on the same level they were before the ban. Those were tough times for Maggie but they came up strongly with the connection they have with their customers, they won that trust again and reached out to the top once again. Because maggie as a brand was never broken. It has the trust of its customers.

5. The Brand is our best team management tool.

To explain this point she gave the example of Google. They have an innovative website, interesting Twitter handle(aspirational), Youtube series-behind the scene(social proof), They have an amazing cover page in a magazine format. They are well known for being amazing places to work. They use approaches like employee branding, don’t just say it, show it, work for us (personalized). This all comes under internal branding. With transparency, social proof & footprints they made themselves one of the best brands.

6. The brand is our roadmap for adapting to the future.

Be relevant if you want to be in the market/industry. Be aware of new trends, competitors, customer's expectations & adapt them. Otherwise, you will end up like Kodak & Nokia. Be like Lego. Evolve & be in flow.

At the end of the session she said, you need to read a lot if you want to be in a flow, to be relevant & to generate new ideas for your brand. Use each new platform (Clubhouse), understand how you can use them for your brand. Even she suggested reading Maya Angelo's work.

With so many live & relevant examples made the session was interesting & easy to understand. Thank you soela ma’am for such amazing sharings.