The act of branding
Branding is the process of identification and differentiation. This is a quick, easy and widely acceptable way to explain what branding is. Identification is making something easy to recognize, while differentiation is about making something unique and different from others. However, if we want to understand the terms brand, branding and brand professional on a deeper level, we can try doing it together in this post.
What is branding?
Branding is an ongoing dialogue between two groups of people; The people behind the brand and the people on the opposite side. It is an organized, intentional effort of the one side to communicate something of value through their actions, to people who will understand and acknowledge the value of it. It is the process of the people behind the brand finding and communicating with the people to the opposite side in a language that they understand.
How does branding start? – Branding always starts with an intention. A single person or a group of people believe that something (a product, a service, a belief, a voice, etc.) should exist for whatever reason. This reason motivates them to take action; to make it exist.
Then, it is the process of figuring out how to make it exist and keeping it alive. In the branding world, keeping something alive means sharing it with others who understand. Nothing in this world exists if there is no one to be interested in it, listen, understand, support, buy. Therefore branding involves sharing and communication. It includes understanding and acknowledging the uniqueness of something, making it easy to identify and distinguish it from the crowd. And finally, make it identifiable — not in general; not for anyone and everyone. But specifically for people who will understand.
Ultimately, branding involves two parts: someone who wants to share something of value–anything for whatever reason; someone who is there to listen, understand, acknowledge its value and respond. And the conversation goes on…
So, branding is the act of intentional observation, acknowledgement and understanding of the two sides and the performance of organized actions to bring them closer and help them start a healthy and sustainable conversation.
What is a brand?
Therefore a brand is a bridge; a medium of communication. It helps the two sides communicate. The stronger, clearer, and more appropriate the bridge, the healthier, more constructive, interesting and sustainable the conversation.
What is a brand professional?
Brand strategists, specialists, designers, managers and other professionals involved in the branding process. They are the coordinators of the dialogue. Someone who understands and embraces the human need for connection, communication and sense of belonging. Someone who understands and embraces motivation and value behind the dialogue. Someone who knows how to bring people and teams closer.
The role of a brand professional is to help the two sides come closer and understand one another. They establish a stable and reliable medium for communication–the brand. Then, they help the two groups come closer carefully, naturally, smoothly through the branding process. A brand professional is there only to reinforce a unique, endless dialogue that will exist as long as people are interested in the topic.
And the last question…When does branding stop?
Only when a brand dies. A brand dies when there is nothing left to be said from both sides. When there is no interest to transform, shift and change direction of the conversation to keep it going. When the conversation is not engaging anymore to motivate people to keep talking. And sometimes finishing a conversation is the wisest choice, leaving us space to move to another one. A better one.
