A product or business entire personality lies in its branding. This is what sets the product apart from its competitors. Audiences like to follow and invest in brands they can relate to. In this pandemic era and a fluctuating economy, anything can change in just a few seconds. Therefore, it’s important now, more than ever, to stay relevant.
Not only this, but consumers are increasingly becoming conscious of where their money goes. The pandemic has also pushed many to re-evaluate their lifestyles. Awareness for causes like climate change, mental health, and other causes have also increased significantly.
But what is the difference between brand and branding?
A brand is a personality crafted to connect with audiences in a specific way. Often, it’s used to discuss private companies, but anything can have a brand: a school, a governmental entity, a social club, a content channel etc. A brand is a collection of values and perceptions the world has about an entity.
Now let’s compare brand to branding. Unlike your brand, which is the personality consumers perceive your company to have, branding is the series of deliberate choices you make to communicate your brand to the world. If your brand is people’s perception of you, branding is how you direct that perception. For example, branding could be commercials, color palettes, packaging, website, social media posts, interior design, among other features.
Now, what is creative branding marketing?
Simply put, creative branding is just positioning your brand in a “creative” manner.
Creative branding helps you to build a strong brand identity by optimizing different forms of content (copy, video, audio) with different media (social, print, TV) by understanding your brand along with your target needs.
What are the different types of branding?
Branding isn’t limited to just one type. In fact, businesses can choose from multiple different ways to position their brands. Here are a few different types of branding:
Product branding is the action of branding a specific product. Product branding shapes how the world perceives your product through deliberate aesthetic choices. With this kind of branding, the goal is to connect the right audience to your product.
This strategy focuses on promoting the product exclusively so that it reflects its own personality, identity, associations, and image.
For example, Nutella, the hazelnut cocoa spread is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, but the product has its own branding and identity.
This sort of branding strategy is common among individuals with a niche following. These can include politicians, celebrities, and sportspersons. At first, it can feel kind of strange to think of a person as having a brand. After all, we’re not products, we’re people with inborn personalities. But when we talk about personal branding, we’re talking about building a public persona that accurately communicates your unique personality.
For example, Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress and lifestyle influencer stand for natural health, organic living, and wellness. Her lifestyle brand, GOOP, stands for that as well.
Corporate branding is when an entire organization turns into a brand. All products or services come under one single brand, making it easier for the organization to introduce new products.
Corporate branding goes beyond website design and ads. It includes how the company conducts themselves socially and professionally, like partnering with specific charities or responding to current events. Corporate branding also often extends to the company’s recruiting efforts and company culture, which ultimately shapes how the public perceives the brand.
For example, Apple, even with its vast portfolio, including the iPhone and Mac, it’s because of the Apple name we buy these products.