3 Ways Branding Makes Your Company Infinitely More Valuable

Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’ve probably struggled to determine the value of branding.

That’s because great branding relies on intangible things, like feelings and ideas.

So, how do you put a price on the way people think and feel?

Let’s consider a term called brand equity.

Brand equity is how consumer perception of a brand name (rather than the product or service itself) contributes to that brand’s commercial value.

According to this definition, feelings and ideas are all part of consumer perception — something that has a pretty big impact on brand value.

To better understand this relationship, here are three tangible ways branding boosts your company’s longterm value.

1. Brand Awareness and Beating Competition

Stand out from competition and influence consumer decision-making.

You can’t create brand awareness without memorable visual elements like logos, product design, and packaging.

When consumers recognize your brand on the shelf, they’re able to quickly and confidently choose your product over brands they haven’t heard of. Once consumers are aware of your brand, its important to keep them engaged.

According to Capgemini Consulting’s research on brand loyalty programs, “Fully engaged customers (those with a strong attachment to the brand, or brand ambassadors) deliver a 23% premium over the average customer in share of wallet, profitability and revenue.”

In addition to delivering a higher brand premium, engaged customers actually reduce customer acquisition costs for your company. When customers are drawn to your brand organically, you can free up marketing resources for more important tasks.

2. Perceived Qualities and Price

Brands associated with high-quality products can command high prices.

The relationship between perceived brand value and price is clearly illustrated in a thought-provoking experiment called Significant Objects.

In this anthropological test, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn purchased second-hand items from thrift stores and flea markets for an average price of $1.25 per item. The duo repurposed these items with strong branding and placed them on eBay.

There, the items sold for a whopping average price of $36.12, about 30x the original price! This just goes to show how consumer perception plays a role in pricing.

To see how this plays out with real brands, let’s use Ralph Lauren as an example.

The main differentiator between a crisp, colorful Ralph Lauren polo shirt and another equally crisp and colorful polo shirt is the iconic logo emblazoned on one of the shirts.

Consumers pay higher prices for Ralph Lauren polo shirts because the logo represents a high quality product.

3. Branding, Loyalty and Your Bottom Line

Brand loyalty is essential for generating organic brand awareness. Brand loyalists, brand advocates, brand posse — it doesn’t matter what you call them, just make sure you have them!

Why’s that?

Because they’re the most important customers you’ll ever have.

Not only can you rely on loyal consumers for each passing transaction or annual renewal; you can often count on them as an opportunity for cross-selling and up-selling.

Most importantly, brand loyalists are your own personal army of referrals. Their word-of-mouth promotion is a powerful tool that can attract more business and increase organic brand awareness.

61% of consumers would tell friends and family about positive experiences with a brand, according to a study by Verint on consumer brand perceptions.

Now that we’ve covered the importance of brand loyalists, here’s how to retain them through great customer experiences.

The Link Between Brand Consistency and Customer Experience

Internal and external consistency help create a seamless and memorable customer experience.

When your marketing and creative teams can manage all brand assets from a single location, such as a digital asset management solution (DAM) it’s much easier to achieve brand consistency.

A DAM solution helps you define brand guidelines and ensure the correct logos, colors and fonts are used by designers and marketers.

When your internal team is consistent, your messaging to the outside world is strong and memorable.

This way, a new customer will have a seamless experience when viewing an email, browsing your website, and visiting your social media channels. Once they experience that consistency, they’ll create a stronger connection with your brand and, in no time, they’ll be transformed into another valuable brand advocate.

Ready for a More Valuable Brand?

Branding is essential for standing out from competition, commanding a higher price point, and creating loyal brand advocates.

If you don’t have a solution for achieving internal brand consistency, you’ll lose the ability to create memorable brand experiences.

To learn more about how Brandfolder can help your company achieve better brand consistency and a higher overall brand value, click below to get a quote.