Brand Management and Psychology
By Reilly Newman, Founder/Brand Strategist, Motif Brands
Your business starts and ends with the consumer in mind. Your brand starts and ends within the consumer’s mind. How your audience perceives your business in the market is where the brand comes to fruition. Since you’re at the mercy of your consumer’s minds, how does one manage their brand?
Manage a brand by observing and listening to the market. This first step allows the business to analyze how the market perceives them. The business can then come to a conclusion on how to best respond to the position. Through analysis, the business can get a pulse on how the brand is forming in the minds of its audience. If the perception of your business is a brand you are happy with, great! It may be worth investigating why you are being perceived this way. Then you can learn how you can lean further into this perception. If the brand that’s placed on your business isn’t ideal or is starting to go in a direction that is not advantageous for your business goal then you’ll want to plan the best approach for compensating the perception and correcting course.
Whether you have decided to lean further into the perception or to compensate for the brand, you’ll be using a similar implementation to manage your brand. To adjust and adapt a brand, a business must look at what variables it does have control over. This is in contrast to the perception that is completely controlled by the market’s perception of the business. The controllable variables that a business can manage to adjust the perception can include things such as the identity and experience of the brand.
The brand’s identity is the visual element that the business has control over. This can be its logo, website, signage, printed materials, digital elements, packaging, and beyond. These points of engagement are your levers to emphasize perception or steer in a different direction. Visual signals through the brand’s identity can change the perception because visuals are dominant in our minds. For example, we can imagine how a fine dining brand would look and feel compared to a fast casual. The logos, menus, signage, and even napkins would be very different from one another. This line of logic continues when we imagine the actual experience of the brands as well. The experience of a brand is a more in-depth aspect to manage but is important because the experience can alter the perception.
Managing a brand through its experience is again looking at variables the business can adjust. The way a box feels when it arrives at a customer’s home, the way customer support answers the phone or the way it feels when they enter your storefront. This is a similar exercise to the identity of a brand, but less tangible. It becomes about the environment, the feeling, and the emotional aspects of an experience.
Disney excels at crafting memorable experiences at Disneyland. These experiences leave a lasting impact and align with the perception of Disney. Ultimately, effective brand management boils down to actively listening to and observing your audience. By understanding how they perceive your business and how they wish to engage with it, you can gain valuable insights into tailoring the experience to benefit your brand and achieve your business goals.
Additionally, as you refine the identity and experience of your brand, consistency is paramount. Consistency plays a vital role in establishing a strong and recognizable brand. Your brand should convey a consistent message across all touchpoints, from your marketing materials to your customer interactions. This consistency builds trust and familiarity among your audience, making it easier for them to identify and remember your brand.
To maintain consistency, it is crucial to develop brand guidelines. These guidelines outline the visual elements, tone of voice, messaging, and overall brand personality that should be consistently reflected. By adhering to these guidelines, you ensure that every interaction with your brand aligns with its intended perception. This ensures that the identity and experience you have crafted is preserved and is furthering the mission of the business.
Brand management is a crucial responsibility for any business, as the market inherently shapes its perception. Effective brand management requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Market trends and consumer preferences are constantly evolving, so it is essential to stay attuned to these changes. Regularly assess how your brand is performing in the market and whether it aligns with your business objectives. This can be done through surveys, customer feedback, social media monitoring, and market research.
Brands are an inevitable component of business, as the human brain naturally seeks to form associations and derive meaning. Your business cannot exempt itself from this process. To unlock your business’s full potential, it is essential to manage its perception through carefully crafted brand identity and experiences.
Uma Rajagopal has been managing the posting of content for multiple platforms since 2021, including Global Banking & Finance Review, Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune. Her role ensures that content is published accurately and efficiently across these diverse publications.