How Does Branding Make Marketing More Effective?

Here's something you need to know: Your brand is so much more than a logo!

A front row audience member of a business association recently captured REX’s very own Allison Bran speaking about what “building a brand” truly means. If you’re at the point where you're ready to make informed, strategic, effective decisions about your marketing and advertising efforts to get maximum value, watch this short video or continue reading below to find out how building your brand will help you do exactly that.

ALLISON BRAN: REX IS WHERE BRANDS ARE BUILT

A BRAND IS A RESULT

First things first: even when paired with carefully chosen fonts and colours, a logo is not your brand. Your brand is a result. It’s what your organization’s audience takes away from every interaction they’ve had with you. This includes all marketing, advertising, and public relations efforts throughout the entire customer journey.

These efforts or tactics can all communicate the same message, but with slightly varied outcomes.

• Marketing is telling your audience who you are.
• Advertising is reminding your audience of who you are.
• Public relations is an external party telling your audience who you are.

However, successful branding is when your audience recognizes and believes who you are “whether they have experienced it or not”.

MARKETING WITHOUT A BRAND STRATEGY

Can you market without building a brand strategy first? Yes, implementing marketing tactics without a brand strategy will get you some short-term results. A few more clicks, some increased reach, and even some conversion.

For example, implementing a launch event, email blast, press article and so on will increase your organization’s awareness for the short-term, but without a congruent brand strategy, the benefits of these tactics are shallow. They do not build or contribute to brand growth over time.

With a brand strategy, every marketing tactic that you implement builds on top of an “ever-rising” awareness. A brand strategy maximizes the effectiveness of every tactical dollar you spend. 

So what is the benefit of investing in a brand strategy and brand-building initiatives? Brand strategy impacts every marketing decision you make. It eliminates the chaos and confusion about where to invest and provides a concrete framework that allows you to lead with focus and clarity.

At REX, building brands is all we do, and that always begins with brand strategy. Our 5 steps to brand growth amplify the benefits of your tactical spending and give your organization a brand that’s competition-proof.

REX’s 5 Steps to Brand Growth

1. Brand Compass (brand strategy): the who, what, how, and why, that leads every action and decision
2. Visual Identity Strategy & Creation: the visual portrayal that your audience will recognize
3. Marketing Action Plan (MAP): focus where to spend marketing dollars in the next 1, 2, or 5 years
4. Engagement Platform: the stuff that you need to engage with your audience
5. Customer Activation: targeted broadcasting of your brand message

Which of these 5 steps have you completed with your organization? Are you in the middle of the process, or have you yet to start? No matter where you are on the journey, you can accelerate your brand growth when you start with REX.

Award-winning brands

View the 3 award-winning brands featured in Allison’s presentation, who have since experienced major results after completing the 5 Steps to Brand Growth with REX.