Branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Branding - Essay Example The primary thing is that branding is not a straight jacketed, isolated and sterile activity that is totally severed from the nature of the product being branded, but is rather an aspect of the overall process of product designing, manufacturing and marketing (LePla & Parker 2). The primary purpose of branding is to educate the consumers regarding how a high quality and innovative product stands apart and is way ahead of the substitutes being offered by other competitors. The popular belief is that it takes loads of money to create a successful brand. Yet, the fact is that brands are built in the minds of the actual consumers. Hence, there is no consumer who does not want a product to be bereft of the time tested attributes like quality, utility, usability, durability, credibility, reliability and reputation. Therefore, if a company has a viable product that meets all these attributes and possibly a little extra, the concerned marketing experts can easily push that product into the c onsumer consciousness, within an affordable budget and some productive effort. Thereby, the primary purpose of branding is to bring to fore the key attributes that differentiate a successful product from its competitors, to be consistent about the claims it tends to make regarding a particular product and to make sure that the products stands by these claims when actually bought and used by the consumers, to identify and target the particular audience who have a need for that particular product and to educate and convince them regarding the product (LePla & Parker 5). Products like people have a character and a personality. However, in the recent times, marketing experts have been so entangled in the personality ethic that they have simply lost sight of the relevance of the overall character of a product. A branding approach based on personality ethic is more about believing that success of product is solely dependent on its public image and the mass perceptions associated with it ( Covey 19). In contrast a branding approach based on character ethics holds that if a product like a person is supported by a quintessential solidity of quality, character and integrity, it will definitely be able to hold on to and justify the image and perceptions being created about it, thereby leading to a successful brand (Covey 22). This is my essential belief about professional branding. Certainly, creating and managing consumer perceptions is important, but such perceptions are bound to fizzle out in the short term, if not backed by a product that is about quality, technology, utility, durability and reliability. Many apt examples do support this essential belief about branding. For instance, the success of many famous brands created by Apple like iPod and iPhone owe it to the fact that Apple places the consumer needs and requirements at the center of its closely integrated effort at product designing, manufacturing and marketing (Greg 1). The crux of Apple’s branding a pproach is to identify the consumer needs, to design and manufacture a quality product that fulfills those needs much better as compared to other competitors, and to eventually educate the consumers and highlight the key attributes of that product in a consistent and planned manner, thereby leading to a successful brand that is able to withstand the challenges posed by time and altering technologies. Take another