I like to define branding as the development of the personality and promotion of a brand. A brand is how a business is seen and perceived by the audience. It comprises of:

Brand Identity: a visible aspect that is seen and recognizable such as name, logo, colour, tagline, typeface, etc.

Brand Personality: the invisible aspect of a brand that can be perceived or experienced such as tone of voice, behaviors, values, cognitions, and emotional patterns.

As stated earlier, branding has two aspects – development and promotion. Some brands are so strong and unique that they require just a little promotion to achieve top-of-mind awareness, while some others require a ton of advertising and marketing tactics. Whatever, the case, it is important to note the power of branding, it is also what differentiates great brands from the mediocre ones. If the branding is poor, a product/service has little chance of survival.

Here are some of the reasons branding is important to a business:

• It differentiates a brand from competitors
• It makes a product or business easily recognizable and memorable.
• It increases customers’ trust
• It increases brand value
• It helps advertising and other marketing efforts because a unique and likable brand sells itself.

Recently, my team and i took to the streets to find out what brands Nigerians consider the best in different categories, and from the responses received, the power of branding and advertising was evident.

As expected, the popular brands were top-of-mind and sadly, some everyday products were forgotten, simply because they don’t have a strong brand.

Interestingly, although GTbank is still a favorite amongst the banks, Diamond Bank (now Access Bank) has some loyal customers. Of all the brands mentioned, only Diamond Bank and iPhone fans expressed their affection for the brands with the word love.