The Secret to Building a Sustainable Brand

The word “brand” has become one of the most over used terms. Everyone from entrepreneurs to musicians and athletes refer to themselves as a ‘brand’. The true meaning of the word is lost.

While most people associated a brand with logo and slogan, that may not always hold true. A brand is first defined by the relationship is fosters. After that has been established, the focus shifts to logo, tag line, typography, colour scheme, photography, illustration and other aspects.  However, these elements do not really tell the true story of what a brand really is.

In order to build a sustainable brand, one has to:

Understand

While most of us want to go with our gut feeling, proper research and analysis of the target audience is necessary. It is essential to understand your audience in order to create a viable brand strategy. Listing down brand attributes that your target audience deems valuable is important.

Plan ahead

The word “brand” has become one of the most overused terms. Everyone from entrepreneurs to musicians and athletes refer to themselves as a ‘brand’. The true meaning of the word is lost.

While research is the starting point to a sustainable brand, you need to plan ahead in order to reach your target audience. Developing a brand strategy is the roadmap one needs to reach their goal. The brand plan will help you understand who you’re targeting, how you are able to get to them and what about your brand you want them to know. 

Ideate

After creating a strategy, it’s ideating that really gets the creative juices flowing. Strategy comes to life through a creative process. Through the creative, one must build an emotional connection with the target audience.

Put into action

Once you are done strategising and creating a brand plan, you need to put it into action. You need to ensure your brand message is clear from the get-go to avoid any confusion. Only when your target audience relates to your brand will it be successful.

Measure

Measuring success will allow you to understand if your plan worked. Do not wait for a campaign to end before you measure its success. Use analytics to make necessary changes to make your plan a bigger success.