Brand Attributes That Will Actually Mean Something

Branding is the cornerstone of any business’ marketing efforts; after all, a company’s brand is ultimately what a customer will remember and refer to when they consider making a purchase. Your company’s brand is comprised of many different factors, all of which have strong implications for the overall success of your marketing and outreach strategy.

The act of establishing a brand involves many different processes; however, a critical part of  brand construction is determining your company’s key attributes in branding.

Key Brand Attributes

Attributes in branding is something we’ve written about before. However, before one can even consider what branding attributes to focus on, it’s important to remember what real branding looks like. In practice, a company’s branding is essentially an ongoing application, communication, and demonstration of certain attributes of that company.  For example, BMW has branded itself as “the Ultimate Driving Machine”; to this end, they:

• Apply this attribute by using it in all of their media and advertisements
• Communicate this by showcasing the phrase in their dealership, repair shops, and documentation
• Demonstrate their commitment to this brand by constantly refining their engines and continuing to offer stick-shift transmissions that are preferred by enthusiasts

The most critical brand attributes include the following below.

Message

What are you trying to say to your customers? For Apple, it may be that their technology is graceful, efficient, and reliable; for Versacci, their message may ultimately want to say that their clothing is the highest of high fashion.

Brand Origin

Some companies portray themselves as “tried and true” solutions that have been around for decades, while others may position themselves as the latest-and-greatest. Your customers want to know where your company is from, since that can give them an idea of where your company is ultimately going.

Geography

Does your company take pride on being founded or located in a particular area, or is your organization more globally-focused?

Values

What “good” does your company want to do for the world? How does it want to deliver value and utility to your customers? Your company’s values often work in cooperation with its origins and message. These three attributes, combined together, often form the overall “face” of your organization.

Consistency

As Forbes describes it, McDonald’s customers want to know that “a Big Mac is going to taste the same…whether they order in Florida or China”. For some companies, consistency is the most important overall aspect of their branding, since it helps build familiarity and recognition in their customer base.

Two Types of Brand Attributes

When determining your company’s attributes in branding, it’s important to consider attributes that are valuable to the company versus attributes that are valuable to the customer. In a perfect world, one could find a happy medium between the two – but many companies ultimately tend to defer to using the attributes that correspond with their customer’s values and desires. That being said, the value of your customers are not necessarily the most appropriate guidelines to use for your company. To this end, always evaluate (and re-evaluate) the role that brand attributes are playing in both your marketing and sales processes.

Defining (or redefining) your organization’s brand can be an immense undertaking. If you have questions about where you need to take your brand, talk to us first.