Branding Strategies of Successful Brands

Yash Gupta

Feb 8, 2020 — 5 min read

See a bottle with red and white, you know its coke, 2 minute noodles, you know what’s cooking, lots of colours in a “G” here’s the know-it-all Google, see a swoosh tick on a product, Nike is the name. Brands so iconic that they stand apart. Branding is what takes these companies to the zenith of popularity.

It also provides the customer an idea about why you are the better choice among the various options. A brand can be built using advertising, logo, customer service, reputation and promotional merchandise. All of these elements work together to create one unique and catchy professional profile.

How popular brands exercise branding

Branding is an absolutely critical step, as it creates an image for the company. The logos, punchlines speak volumes about the working ethics of a company. For example, the 30 minute delivery tag line used by Dominos, tells the customer about their efficiency and punctuality. Branding changes people’s perception of the brand, it is what makes new businesses fly and increase brand awareness.

Branding also represents brand loyalty. For instance,Apple with its iconic logo and design has started a new cult of customers who wouldn’t settle for anything less than the Apple standard and quality.

Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, says,“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A brand is equal to your reputation, therefore just like a reputation is built in due time, there are steps to build a brand.

Positive image + eccentricity = brand success.

Nowadays digital marketing can be effectively used for branding:
-Website Experience
-SEO & Content Marketing
-Social Media Marketing
-Email Marketing
-Paid Advertising (PPC)

A number of factors are kept in mind for brand building:

Purpose of your brand - To identify the purpose of your brand, answer the three golden questions:
What – the products or services you offer to your customers
How – the things that make you unique
Why – the reason you are passionate

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”

Know your competitors - It is very important that you know what your competitors are doing to advertise their brands, the same old tactics would not work for a new brand.

“Go unique or go home”

Focus on your target audience - Direct your tactics to the target audience, find out how your brand makes their life easier, address their problems, make your brand look like an escape from the ordinary.

Let your brand personality shine - Customers aren’t looking another usual company, they are looking for an experience that tailors to their needs, backed by genuine personal interaction.

For example Apple, from stand-out packaging to their grand announcement events, Apple always reminds customers that its products can be used right out of the box.
Do you remember Apple’s slogan back in 1997-2002? It was "Think Different". This notion continues to exist, today.

Another brand that has touched every individual’s life is Nike, we all know the Nike tagline: Just Do It. Nike’s mission is: "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world". They narrow down to all types of athletes using Nike products to be their best selves.

Nike takes this forward by saying: "If you have a body, you are an athlete". Think about how wide their target audience becomes with a disclaimer like that!

Most impactful brand strategies used by Successful Brands

A brand strategy is how you would maintain your brand in the long-run, it involves the feelings and expectations that you want your customers to associate with your brand.
Now that we know and understand the branding essentials, let’s look into the branding strategies of some of the greatest brands of all times.

Coca-Cola: Consistency is the key

Coca-Cola is hands down one of the most well known brands in the world. The red and white logo is recognised in countries all over the world and it represents the idea of staying refreshed. So how did Coca-Cola succeed? The secret is consistency, they have kept their brand identity, product, logo consistent for over 130 years and continue to promote the same message.

It holds a major share of the beverage market and owns various products under different names and brands, however their most popular product, the infamous, iconic can of Coke, has remained relatively untouched.

Coca-Cola invests an estimated $4.3 billion on advertising and marketing every year. It has all the means to market the product in any way they wish, but they still prefer the good old ideas that have paid off.

2. Apple: Driving a Movement

Apple did not succeed overnight, it had its own share of peaks and valleys, but the brand never gave up. The one thing that helped Apple was their ability to create a movement. The brand created a cult like following which has stood the test of time.
Apple has created an image of visionary and life changing products using its marketing schemes.

Sure they have developed some amazingly advanced technologies, however to get average people involved in this, they have created sleek, aesthetically pleasing gadgets that are not just for tech geeks.

Their marketing has also helped to convey this by making people feel as if they need their products in order to enhance their quality of living.

With innovation and amazing product quality, Apple has created a name that is synonymous for standard.

3. Colgate: Building Trust

Colgate refused to just be identified as a toothpaste brand, rather it chose to give the name an image of trust. This is proved by the advertising of the company, in which they interview real life mothers who answer why their choice has been Colgate for years.

This is another way it connects with the audience and uses the motherly instinct to prove its worth.

Colgate may have a multi-million dollar marketing budget to make hefty videos and content, however all you really need to do is go into the minds of your consumers and deliver to them what they really want.

4. Nike - Weave a Story

On their main homepage, Nike tells a story about some of their famous shoes and the journey they have taken from idea to conception. Nike sells the story, which in turn helps to sell their products.

Nike also maintains a strong presences on Instagram and they use the platform in a very clever way.

They promote strength and fitness, they promote health, they promote things that are so much bigger than just a pair of runners.
This indirect marketing is what gets consumers interested in a brand and it is also what keeps them following along with the story.

Conclusion

Branding should be considered as an ongoing process instead of a “one-and-for all” situation. A brand evolves as it grows and understands what the audience likes and dislikes about it.
The most successful brands don’t find what works and stick to their guns no matter what. Instead, the best companies adapt and continue to hone their brands to find the right balance and integrate the insights.