A brand is not simply the name on the box or the product inside the box or the name of the business or the logo. It is also the images, thoughts, emotions, history and word of mouth in the marketplace about a particular product or company.

Building a brand takes time, money, consistency and frequency.

Many marketers become bored with their own story and chop and change their messages too soon. Those in the butterfly school of marketing start a company or launch a freelance business, land a few clients, and when things go quiet for a while they quit, just before the good stuff starts to happen. The market is conditioned to associating frequent consistent messages with trust. So you can’t afford to quit in the midst of building that frequency because if you do there’s no chance of earning the trust or building a brand.

If you are launching a new brand from scratch on the internet it’s a little different. SEO is the practice of ranking high in the search results for a generic term. A plumber or restaurant or courier who ranks highest in the generic search will earn handsome profits. Everyone else spends money on consultants and tricks to get a higher ranking.

But a smart marketer can build a product or service that’s worth searching for. Not a generic term but the specific thing you created or started. Google will then be on your side as it will help you to be found when someone searches for you.

The key is to make a product or service that people care enough about to search for specifically. You will not win a generic search but you will constantly win if the search is specific enough.

Sources:

This is Marketing by Seth Godin, Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan

Brand identity

Brand collateral