Getting A Fix On Branding

Traditional definitions of what a brand is have always presented it as a static concept. The Google business definition is as follows:

• trade name: a name given to a product or service
• a recognizable kind; “there’s a new brand of hero in the movies now”; “what make of car is that?”

In the definition above, brand is something external, something you can point to in the world and identify. Corporations have adopted branding to create unique identities for themselves. They have spent millions of dollars to manufacture perception around a logo or name. But the definition is changing…

Seth Godin defines a brand as the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.

In this day and age, a logo and a name is not enough. Successful branding is now about creating an experience, establishing a narrative, and cultivating a relationship of trust with a consumer that creates loyalty.

In regard to website design, this idea resonates with a previous article I wrote which stressed the need to design websites for users. Delivering a satisfactory user experience is not simply a good way to do business, it is also a foundation of branding.

This translates to the industry of real estate rather well. To set yourself apart as an agent or broker, don’t think the job is done because you have created a logo or successfully established a color scheme that is consistent among all of your marketing materials and website.

Successful branding goes deeper. It reaches to the core of the relationships you establish with your clients, the expectations you set for them, and the story you tell. Concentrate your branding effort on the experience you are providing to your clients and the rest will follow.