Beyond Products and Services: Why Your Brand Matters

This article was written by Andy Salmon, Senior Teaching Fellow in Marketing and deliverer of the Help to Grow: Management Course, at Aston Business School.  

One of the questions I find myself regularly asking small business owners is “What is a brand...?”. The answers I tend to receive are varied and often include visual elements such as the logo or the slogan. But there’s more to it than that.

I’d argue that at its most fundamental level, the brand represents the organisation’s promise to all stakeholders. It reflects a level of quality while also conveying the organisation’s values and long-term aspirations. In an environment where many products and services can be easily replicated by competitors, your brand, unique as it is, becomes a key differentiator.

Strong brands instil trust in the mind of the consumer, and consumers often select trusted brands even when cheaper or higher quality offerings are available elsewhere. This is largely because there is an inverse relationship between trust and risk. In other words, as the level of trust in a brand increases, the perceived risk associated with a prospective purchase decreases. Trust shortens the decision-making process and increases the likelihood that customers will make repeat purchases. This is why branding is essential for any business.

Building a brand should be a deliberate, authentic, and ongoing process that involves the wider team. The 4 key building blocks include: 

1.      Clarity of Purpose

Purpose clearly communicates why your brand exists, what it stands for, and what value you provide to all stakeholders. More than this though, it serves as a guide in strategic decision making.

Ultimately, clarity of purpose inspires trust amongst customers and becomes part of the compelling proposition offered. As digital media becomes increasingly accessible to consumers, particularly younger audiences with strong digital skills, inconsistencies between a brand’s stated values and its behaviour can easily be identified dissuade customers.

2.      Consistent Identity

It is important to be consistent when building recognition and trust. Brand consistency is dependent on alignment between your brand’s visual elements, tone of voice, and messaging. These should remain unified across all customer touchpoints. When organisations do this well, every interaction with stakeholders reinforces the brand’s character and creates strong associations in the minds of consumers.

3.      Authenticity

Respected brands are authentic. They communicate their values and remain true to their identity rather than simply emulating their competitors or following the latest trends. These brands communicate honestly, deliver on what they promise, and can be counted on to operate in alignment with their values. Authenticity builds credibility and in turn fosters emotional engagement amongst consumers. This leads to greater levels of loyalty, brand advocacy, and  trust amongst stakeholders.

4.      Customer Focus

Customer-focused brands prioritise the needs, values, and experiences of customers and place these at the centre of everything they do. This starts with taking steps to better understand customer motivations, preferences, and pain points. Understanding the customer enables brands to develop relevant products or services and communications that resonate deeply. Customer-focused brands aspire to transform transactions into relationships which strengthens brand equity, ensuring that the brand remains relevant, valued, and competitive within the market.

The mission and vision are crucial to the development of the brand yet often they are little more than text sitting on the ‘About Us’ page of the organisation’s website. The mission describes the organisation’s purpose right now. Ideally it should answer two questions;

1.           Why do we exist?

2.           Who do we serve?

The vision, unlike the mission, focusses upon the future. It should be aspirational and provide a compelling picture of what the organisation’s ‘tomorrow’ looks like. When well developed, the organisation’s mission and vision should be clear, memorable, and should resonant emotionally with stakeholders.

Not only do they provide a compelling proposition to prospective customers, but they also foster employee buy-in. When connected to your vision and mission, your team is more likely to feel a sense of ‘belonging’. However, this goes beyond merely being a ‘warm and fluffy ideal’ as there is a growing body of research suggesting that loyal employees are more productive and remain with organisations over a longer period than those who are not.

In contemporary business, branding has emerged as a key element of sustainable competitive advantage. So much greater than a logo or organisational slogan, the brand creates trust, enhances reputation, and communicates purpose, and promise.

The mission and vision play a critical role in brand building, but only if they guide strategic decisions, inspire employees, and shape the customer experience."

Essentially, your brand not only differentiates the organisation from that of your competitors within the market, but it also creates lasting value by fostering loyalty, attracting the most talented staff and supporting your organisation’s reputation. At a time where the tangible elements of products and services are easily replicated, your brand can be one of the keys to a sustained competitive advantage. 

So what’s next..? 

Let’s roll our sleeves up and get building!

The Help to Grow: Management Course includes three modules focused on engaging with customers. You can find out more about the course and how it can enable you to develop your brand here.