If you read our previous post on the definition of a brand, we stated how a brand is a gut feeling about a product, service, or company.

But wait, there’s more!

A successful brand can become something special in a customer’s life. It can become a vivid symbol of what’s useful, delightful, and even magical.

“When a product becomes a symbol, the symbol becomes the product.” - Marty Neumeier

This is similar to Apple. Their products have become a symbol and now their symbol of status is the product!

Business used to be run by sales, meaning short term gains and profit to make the quarter. It is important to know that I am not referencing marketing. That is another rabbit hole to jump into. An extreme example of this would be Progresso. Here in South Texas, the “chicle” saying is super popular. It is referring to the kids running up to you to try to get you to buy gum. Their goal is to get the sale over anything. This view doesn’t care about the person, just the sale. Which is way far off from branding. Sales also don’t work very well. It is way too pushy.

With branding, the aim is to get build a loyal customer, one who is more valuable over time rather just a one and done approach. It understands that they will buy unique products over generic ones. Companies sell products. However, customers join brands. Especially ones that see them as people.

There was a point a few years back that Toyota found itself in trouble. The reason why its brand was so strong was because of the quality and reliability it promised. They had gotten sale happy and focused too heavily on profit. This lead to a dip in quality and then an uproar from customers. This approach leads to a one time customer.

For example, I drive a Subaru and they have super great reliability both in tough conditions and overall durability. I would gladly go back and buy another Subaru. If it had issues or didn’t live up to what it said, I wouldn’t go back to a Subaru when it’s time to move on. They built a loyal customer out of me. Not only that, but I feel part of a community with house tight the Subaru community is. Jeep also does an awesome job of having a symbol as a product and the product bee the symbol.

Are you focusing on your vision and your customers over profit? If not, step back and see what the reason is and asses how you can make the flip from sales to branding.

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