In our ongoing talk about “branding,” there are a number of types of branding that must be discussed. The Belford Group is happy to help businesses and organizations develop a corporate identity that is easily recognizable and respected.
Three Types of Branding
Corporate Brand-
The overall parent company must have its own brand that people recognize for quality and its good reputation. This is useful when launching new product brands or product lines. If you can associate the new product brand with the already well-known corporate brand, it has a better chance of being well-received (or poorly received if people don’t trust your corporate brand).
Example A: Coca-Cola Global has many product lines that are individually branded.
Example B: The Belford Group offers web design services, marketing services and software development services.
Example C: Wallingford Sales Company offers water heaters, plumbing equipment and safety equipment.
Coca-Cola is a readily recognizable brand that has multiple product lines under its proverbial umbrella.
Product Brand-
Individual products or product lines must have their own established brands. This is useful when a corporation or organization has multiple services, including services that at the surface may not seem to have a lot in common.
Example A: Diet Coke is clearly a part of the dark Coca-Cola soft drinks with similar colors (silver and red vs white and red). Sprite is also owned by Coca-Cola, however, and has a completely different look, taste and target audience.
Example B: The Belford Group’s teams are separately branded. Our TBG Software team has its own similar yet different branding from the traditional five-color “B” you often see in our own branding.
Example C: WaterHeaterStore.co is Wallingford Sales Company’s branding for its water heaters, which is one of the company’s most popular sales items.
Wallingford Sales Company offers water heaters, plumbing equipment and washroom equipment.
Diet Coke is clearly part of the Coca-Cola company but has its own, easily-recognizable branding.
Personal Brand-
Developing a personal brand can be as important for an individual as it is for a company or product line. Personal branding is vital for salesmen, job seekers … or anyone who wants to deal with the business world. It’s your reputation (how others view you) and to some degree, your identity (what people associate you with). Reputation could be good or bad; identity refers to the idea of someone associating you with your given profession, belief system, hobby, etc.
Example A: Salesman for any kind of product
Example B: Angela Belford has launched a consulting and public speaking career. While some of her services coincide with her work at The Belford Group, she has completely different branding for her public speaking career.
Angela Belford has launched a consulting and public speaking career. Her branding looks completely different from The Belford Group.
What do they have in common?
There’s a common thread among the three different types of branding.
All three brand types need:
Development
All forms of branding must be created through a thoughtful process that considers how you want to be remembered, and the branding must be demonstrated well. By “demonstrated well” we mean, do you have business cards, a website, social media and other forms of communication that are professional and give off the right image? This is just as important for a person as it is for a company or brand.
Consistency
Good corporate branding is consistent across all media, across all uses. There’s no point in having a branding package (logo, printed materials, signage, etc) if it isn’t consistent.
The same is true for personal branding. Does your Facebook profile – although personal – show a party animal while your LinkedIn profile shows a quiet professional? Consider how potentially confusing that could be to people with whom you do business or from whom you are seeking employment.
Protection
Protect your brand’s reputation by making sound decisions that are consistent with your mission and message. Both brands and individuals must take the necessary steps to be aware of what is being said about them and having some element of control over what can be said about them both in the real world and online.
Need Help?
The Belford Group is an experienced image-building marketing and website development agency, with more than a decade spent providing creative marketing and advertising solutions to fit any budget …and any medium.
Call us. We’d love to work for you.
479-443-9945
