Branding

Some Insights from Top CEOs and Related Thoughts

What is a brand? This question certainly has engaged many People particularly as it has become something of a buzzword in recent times. There are so many definitions out there. One of the very best definitions currently offered is by the CEO of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos. He says a brand is "simply what people say about you when you are not there." That sums it up pretty well.

In practice though, branding takes on a new dimension. Michael Eisner, CEO of Disneyland gives his own piece on what a brand is. He says it is "...a living entity and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over Time, the product of a thousand small gestures." Branding is actually inclusive of the process by which a brand is built and sustained in the minds of the target market, consumers, and customers. A brand is the most strategic asset a company can possess and one very unique attribute of a brand is its intangibility. It is built in the minds of customers and consumers.

Today, Advertising professionals like Kevin Roberts, CEO of advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, would argue that brands are built in the hearts and not just minds of people. Companies have realized that in contemporary times, they simply have to engage customers and not just talk down to them. Companies now have to appeal to people and hold their attention. In fact, there is talk of the dawn of the "attention age". With the rise of social media, it has put the tools of such attention into the hands of the people. Customers and consumers now determine what is said, how, when, and where. Branding allows a company to get a complete viewpoint and work within these environments in order to intimate the brand and the target audience.

The Evolution of Advertising

Advertising is traditionally defined as a non-personal means of selling. It utilizes a number of means to get the attention of people in order to project a message. Television, radio, and today, the Internet all serve as the medium through which companies advertise their brands to people. Many people have seen and loved popular ads, iconic ones like the Marlboro man. Coca-Cola has also swept the World with its ads time and again too. But today, advertising has evolved. This evolution has not diminished its effects in any way. It has simply caused a paradigm shift particularly in the media and its control over the target audience. Advertising's power has always derived mainly from its mass effect and the compelling visual Nature through which the customers and consumers are urged to take actions favorable to the cause of the brand.

The Internet and its most powerful offspring - social media are now dominating the advertising scene and from all indications, will continue to do so. As the Internet continues to create new platforms for advertising, more people are being influenced by its messages. Brands continue to rely on advertising to get their messages out to the members of their target audience and influence them to positive actions as well as build and sustain a mutually rewarding relationship with them.

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