by Dan Blade

Created on: September 12, 2010

In today’s business world a company’s brand has become an important tool to establish visibility. While people develop brands for themselves in order to seek a job or career, corporate brands are different because they are designed for a much larger audience; a brand is utilized as a means to gain immediate recognition and launch an identity.

A business with a poor brand could see itself moving financially in the wrong direction, however a business with a strong corporate brand will likely enjoy better profitability.

What is a Brand?

Branding is a critical aspect of marketing. A brand is a corporate image or trademark, and in business image is everything. If a corporation is viewed negatively, then customers and potential employees will overlook the company  in favor of a competitor.

This negative image could also set up a potential downward financial spiral that could eventually lead to a lack of revenue, or worse, bankruptcy. Expert David Ogilvy states “Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image" (Ward Hansen, 2007)

Web Image and Presence

How a business is seen on the web could be as simple as search engine results. If the company website is not the first to pop up when the company name is entered into a search engine this could be an issue.

If not on the first page of the search, this is a business wide problem because the company is not gaining significant web visibility, making them lose a competitive advantage. It also could mean that the corporation is not in control of its own brand because customers will not be able to find the company, potential employees cannot apply and the public could be getting a skewed image of the business.

Effects of Brands

The brand is the face a business shows to the world. Perception is important, and for a company the perception that the public has for a brand is a reality. As an example of poor brand image was fast food restaurant Jack in the box, now mired by multiple incidents of E. Coli exposure causing food poisoning in customers. While the business survives, the image of the company is tarnished and as a result costs them money everyday. While on the other hand, Tylenol was able bounce back quickly from their 1982 poisoning incident from their quick response and the incident was a result of a single individual. 

People associate brand with not only a product or service but qualities. If a business is able to steer their customers to the qualities for the entire company, they will be more successful.

Branding is a way a company differentiates itself from competition. This is the way a business can show that it identifies with its consumers, therefore able to get customers to keep coming back as well as convince new in customers to use their product or service.

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